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GAUDIUM  CRUCIS 


By  the  Same  Author: 

The  Doctrine  of  St.  John  :  An  Essay  in  Biblical  The- 
ology. 12rao.  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  New  York, 
London,  and  Bombay.     1899. 

Monuments  of  the  Early  Church  (title  of  the  English 
edition,  "Christian  Art  and  Archaeology  " ).  In  the 
series  of  Handbooks  of  Archaeology  and  Antiquities. 
Crown  8vo.  The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York ; 
Macmillan  &  Co.,  London  and  Bombay.     1901. 

The  Church  and  its  Organization  in  Primitive  and 
Catholic  Times.  8vo.  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co., 
New  York,  London,  and  Bombay.     1904. 


PANEL    FROM    THE    WOODEN    DOORS    OF 
FIFTH    CENTURY. 


SABINA,    ROME. 

[See  p. 


GAUDIUM    CRUCIS 

^  J^ctritation  for  <Sr00tr  iFritrag 

UPON 

THE   SEVEN  WORDS   FROM 
THE   CROSS 


BY 

WALTER   LOWRIE,  M.A. 

ASSISTANT  MINISTER   AT   EMMANUEL   CHURCH,    BOSTON 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  AND    CO. 

91  AND  93  FIFTH    AVENUE,   NEW    YORK 
LONDON    AND    BOMBAY 

1905 


Copyright^  1905, 
By  Walter  Lowrie 


THE  UNIVERSITY   PRESS,    CAMBRIDGE,    U.  S.  A. 


TO 

Paul  van  Dyke 

IN   MEMORY   AND    PLEDGE 
OF   A    PRECIOUS    FRIENDSHIP 


PREFACE 

IT  is  almost  superfluous  to  say  that  these 
meditations  are  not  presented  in  suitable 
form  and  compass  for  use  in  the  church  at 
the  three  hours'  devotion  on  Good  Friday.  They 
are  designed  for  private  use,  and  chiefly  for  per- 
sons who  are  prevented  from  attending  a  public 
service.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  the  clergy  may 
find  here  suggestions  for  their  discourses.  The 
greater  part  of  the  matter  has  actually  been  used 
by  the  Author  for  his  Good  Friday  meditations. 
But  the  studies  which  are  here  offered  are  not 
appropriate  to  Good  Friday  alone ;  they  touch, 
on  many  sides,  the  profoundest  problems  of  the 
Christian  faith;  and,  apart  from  the  literary  set- 
ting in  which  they  are  here  introduced,  they  are 
relevant  to  many  another  season  of  the  Church 
year. 

The  book  is  not  a  mere  monograph  upon  "  The 
Joy  of  the  Cross,"  though  this  title  indicates  a 
predominant  and  pervading  theme,  —  one  which 
is  too  commonly  ignored,  and  upon  which  it  is 
always  wholesome  to  reflect. 


viii  Preface 

Many  and  various  subjects  have  crept  into  this 
book  which  were  no  part  of  the  original  plan  ; 
for  the  writing  of  it  proved  a  suggestive  oppor- 
tunity for  an  essay  in  unsystematic  theology,  —  a 
sort  of  theology  which  is  now  needed,  and  which 
alone  is  now  possible.  Those  problems  in  particu- 
lar which  are  forced  upon  us  by  the  suffering  and 
death  of  Christ  cannot  profitably  be  contemplated 
except  with  such  sympathy  as  this  time  and  this 
mode  of  treatment  engender.  "  The  freezing 
reason"'s  colder  part"  is  never  so  inept  as  when 
it  is  applied  to  Christ's  suffering  death.  We 
cannot  afford  to  treat  this  tragedy  only  as  a 
formal  topic  in  a  logical  system. 

The  larger  aim  explains  the  greater  size  of  this 
book,  which  is  at  the  same  time  more  concise,  and 
perhaps  more  technical,  than  the  title  might  lead 
one  to  expect. 

The  Author  has  endeavored  to  gather  together, 
and  present  here  in  popular  form, — unsystematic- 
ally,  yet  not  without  consistency  and  precision, 
—  some  of  the  latest  and  most  reliable  results  of 
gospel  study.  In  a  few  cases  authorities  are 
expressly  cited,  for  the  sake  either  of  justifying 
the  Author  from  the  reproach  of  originality,  or 
of  supplying  proof  which  cannot  readily  be  intro- 
duced in  a  popular  work. 

It  may  not  be  impertinent  to  remark  that  this 


Preface  ix 

book  is  written  from  the  standpoint  of  modern 
historical  scholarship.  It  may  therefore  appeal 
to  some  who  are  repelled  by  the  dogmatic  atti- 
tude.    May  it  also  confirm  them  in  the  faith  that 

Jesus  is  the  Lord. 

W.  L. 

Keeve  Valley,  in  the  Adirondacks, 
September,  1904. 


NOTE   ON   THE   FRONTISPIECE 

THE  substance  of  what  I  have  endeavored  to  say  in 
this  httle  book  with  regard  to  the  significance  of 
the  Cross  in  our  Christian  meditation  is  expressed 
graphically  to  the  eye  in  the  frontispiece,  which  represents 
a  small  panel  from  the  wooden  doors  of  the  Church  of  S. 
Sabina  at  Rome,  executed  probably  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fifth  century.  The  theme  is  unique  in  Christian  art, 
but  it  is  thoroughly  consonant  with  early  Christian  ideals. 
To  us  the  ideal  and  the  manner  of  its  presentation  are  alike 
strange,  and  require  a  word  of  interpretation. 

The  Church  is  symboUzed  by  a  veiled  woman  in  the  atti- 
tude of  prayer.  She  gazes  upward  at  the  Cross,  which  the 
Apostles  Peter  and  Paul  hold  before  her  eyes  (see  Gal.  iii.  1). 
They  hold  it  not  straight  before  her,  as  though  it  were  level 
with  her  attainment,  but  above  her  at  their  utmost  reach, 
as  the  highest  object  of  her  aspiration.  The  Cross  here  is 
the  equal-armed  Cross  which  had  long  been  associated  with 
the  triumph  of  Christ's  faith,  and  it  is  framed  in  a  wreath  or 
crown, — the  Crown  which  is  for  evermore  associated  with 
the  Cross.  The  singular  thing  is  that  the  staff  of  the  Cross 
is  elongated  upwards  as  by  a  tongue  of  flame.  It  points 
beyond  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  and  the  vault  of  heaven 
to  Christ,  ascended,  glorified,  triumphant.  The  gaze  of  the 
Church  is  not  to  rest  upon  the  Cross,  but  is  directed  through 
it  to  the  Lord  of  glory,  the  Alpha  and  Omegay  from  beneath 
whose  feet  issues  the  fourfold  river  of  life,  who  is  glorified 
by  the  four  angelic  beasts  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  stands  in 
an  attitude  of  more  than  royal  grace,  the  teacher  and  the 
ruler  of  the  world.  The  mystic  scroll  which  he  holds  in  his 
left  hand  bears  the  Greek  letters  which  spell  IX0YC  "  fish," 
and  taken  as  an  acrostic  read,  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God, 
Saviour. 

The  design  which  decorates  the  cover  of  this  book  is 
copied  from  a  beautiful  stone  relief  of  the  fourth  century, 
now  in  the  Lateran  Museum.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  this 
represents  the  Cross  as  well  as  the  Monogram  of  Christ,  and 
is  well-nigh  the  only  form  in  which  the  Cross  was  depicted 
for  a  century  or  more  after  Constantine. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

foretoorti 

'■^  Now  is  the  Son  of  man  glorified.'**  — Jomx  xiii.  31. 
The  Symbol  of  our  Faith  is  a  Cross,  not  a  Crucifix 

PAGE 

An  empty  Cross 1 

An  empty  Tomb 1 

Impotence  of  the  human  understanding     ....  2 

Restraint  in  depicting  Jesus'  sufferings       ....  3 

Fra  Angelico's  Crucifixions ^ 

The  Cross  in  the  early  Church 4- 

Good  Friday  a  festival ^ 

Humihation  and  exaltation * 

St.  Leo  on  the  festival  of  the  Passion 5 

"Hear  him!" ''' 

Cl)e  JFirfit  ©HorTi:  f^mv 

»  Father,  for  give  them :  for  they  know  not  what  they  do.'*  -  Luke  xxiii.  34. 

"They  know  not  what  they  do" 

Condemnation  and  extenuation  at  once      ....  9 

The  popular  view  of  Jesus'  fate ^ 

Jesus  steadfastly  fulfiUing  his  mission 10 

He  proclaims  himself  king ^^ 

King  before  Pilate  and  on  the  Cross H 

King  before  Caiaphas ^^ 

His  true  reign  commenced  upon  the  Cross      ...  14 


xii  Contents 

"Father,  forgive  them"  ^.„„ 

PAGE 

Venial  and  mortal  sins 15 

Sinning  in  ignorance 16 

Forgiveness  for  the  Jews 17 

By  his  own  forgiveness  Jesus  confirms  his  precepts  18 

Imitation  of  Jesus'  forgiveness 19 

"  To-day  shall  thou  he  with  me  in  Paradise.''^  —liXrss  xxiii.  43. 

A  Comfortable  Word 

To  die  is  to  be  with  the  Lord 20 

Jesus'  reign  began  with  his  death 21 

Faith,  penitence,  and  forgiveness 22 

Whole  faith  is  answered  by  whole  grace     ....  23 

Christ  as  Saviour 

The  last  instance  of  Jesus'  pastoral  ministry  ...  24 

Jesus  as  Pastor  of  souls 24 

His  joy  in  preaching 24 

Jesus  the  preacher  king 25 

His  individual  ministry  to  men 25 

Saving  souls  is  an  act  of  righteousness    ....  26 

Relief  of  bodily  ailments 26 

The  incomparable  value  of  a  human  soul  ....  27 

Christ  as  Judge 

The  other  cross 28 

These  two  crosses  are  an  epitome  of  the  world   .     .  29 

Jesus  at  once  Victim  and  Judge 29 

"  A  stone  of  stumbling  " 31 

Michael  A ngelo's  "Last  Judgment" 32 

Fear  of  Jesus 33 

Jesus  upon  the  Cross  is  the  touchstone  of  hearts    .  M 


Contents  xiii 

•'  TTowian,  6eAoW  <Ai/  Son  !  .  .  .  Behold  thy  mother  / "  —  John  xii.  26,  27. 

Love,  Old  and  New  page 

How  is  love  a  new  commandment  ? 36 

St.  John  explains  the  paradox 37 

Christ  raises  the  old  love  to  sacramental  dignity      .  38 

Marriage 39 

Family  love  the  law  of  the  kingdom 39 

Jesus'  relation  to  his  own  family 40 

The  brethren  of  Jesus 42 

John  and  Mary 42 

Children  by  adoption       42 

The  heavenly  fatherhood  the  pattern  of  the  earthly  43 

"  The  royal  law  "  in  the  world 44 

CI)c  fflttrtl)  WtarU:  3fop  anti  Sacrifice 

"JUfy  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  —  Matt,  xxvii.  46. 

The  Joy  in  the  Passion 

Dante  detects  joy  even  in  this  cry 47 

St.  John's  representation  of  Christ's  joy  in  passion  48 

The  nostalgia  of  Jesus  according  to  the  Synoptists  49 

Dante's  meaning 50 

The  word  ^Zi 51 

Thepersonalnote— " il/y  God" 52 

"  The  God  of  Abraham  " 53 

Sacrifice 

The  anguish  of  death ^^ 

An  additional  pang  in  the  death  of  the  Messiah  .     .  56 

Christian  theology 56 

The  element  of  wonder  in  our  faith 58 

Sacrifice  as  an  explanation  of  Christ's  death  ...  58 

Meaning  of  sacrifice 59 


xiv  Contents 

Sacrifice  page 

Significance  of  Christ's  sacrifice 60 

As  interpreted  by  the  Last  Supper 62 

Joy  in  sacrifice 64 

OTJe  jFiftI)  aHorti:  Confirmation 

"7  thirsty  —John  xix.  28. 

The  Scriptures  Confirmed  by  the  Cross 

Christ's  sufferings  not  dwelt  upon  as  suffering    .     .  66 

The  ApostoUc  proof  from  prophecy 67 

Symbohsm 69 

Jesus'  Scriptural  proof 70 

The  Scriptures  explain  his  death 71 

The  name  "  Son  of  Man  " 72 

Jesus'  Teaching  Confirmed  by  the  Cross 

Jesus  as  Teacher 74 

Teaching  from  the  Cross 74 

Newness  of  his  teaching 75 

His  hardest  precepts  represent  his  own   rule  of 

conduct 75 

The  forgiveness  of  enemies 76 

Self-renunciation 76 

Meekness 77 

The  Cross  as  the  symbol  of  meekness 79 

Imitation  of  the  suffering  Christ 80 

Cte  ^i%i\^  OTlorlx:  ^ccomplifibment  anH  5Dtttp 

"  It  is  finished.''''  —John  xix.  30. 
Accomplishment 

The  joy  of  accomplishment  as  experienced  by  Jesus  83 

By  every  servant  of  God 84 

By  St.  Paul 84 


Contents  xv 
Duty                                                                                     page 

Accomplishment  implies  duty 86 

Jesus'  sense  of  duty  is  commonly  ignored     ...  86 

The  sentimental  picture  of  Jesus 87 

Sin 87 

Temptation 88 

Jesus'  fear  of  God 89 

He  inculcated  in  his  disciples  this  fear     ....  90 

Conscience  the  only  guide  of  life 91 

Jesus  our  example  in  the  path  of  duty      ....  92 
His  own  regard  for  duty  explains  the  severity  of 

his  commandments ^^ 

Jesus'  notion  of  righteousness 95 

Righteousness  is  the  performance  of  God's  will     .  96 

The  Cross  as  the  symbol  of  duty 


96 


OT^e  ^ebentl)  SMorU:  filial  QLvmt 

''Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  —  Luke  xxiii.  46. 

Trust  in  God 

Jesus'  familiarity  with  the  Scriptures 99 

New  interpretation  of  the  old  words 100 

The  first  Christian  death 100 

The  Old  Testament  and  the  hope  of  immortality  .  101 

Faith  in  God's  righteousness 101 

BeUef  in  the  reward  of  righteousness  prompted  the 

hope  of  a  future  hfe 103 

The  Father 

Jesus'  trust  in  God  as  Father 104 

Old  and  new  in  the  notion  of  God's  fatherhood      .  104 

Jesus'  notion  the  product  of  an  intimate  experience  1 05 

"  My  Father  "  and  "  your  Father  " 106 

"^6&a" ^^^ 

Parables  of  fatherhood ^08 

We  know  God  as  the  Father  of  the  Son   ....  108 


xvi  Contents 

SONSHIP 

PAGE 

Jesus' consciousness  of  sonship 109 

Jesus  the  example  of  sonship 109 

Sonship  a  pecuhar  privilege 110 

Parables  of  sonship 112 

Consciousness  of  sonship  upon  the  Cross      .     .     .  114 


Index  of  New  Testament  Passages 115 


GAUDIUM  CRUCIS 


FOREWORD 

THE   SYMBOL   OF   OUR   FAITH   IS 
A  CROSS— NOT  A   CRUCIFIX 

WE  dare  not  forget  to-day  that  we  ven-  An  empty 
erate  an  empty  Cross  :  it  is  empty 
forever  of  that  Burden  which  once 
hung  there,  tortured,  dying,  dead  ;  and  banished, 
too,  is  that  blankness  of  despair,  that  sad  dismay 
and  disillusion  with  which  it  was  veiled  until  the 
first  Easter  morning.  The  Cross  —  not  the  Cru- 
cifix —  is  the  symbol  of  Christianity. 

The  tomb  also  is  empty.  We  worship  a  risen  An  empty 
Christ,  an  ascended  Lord.  Not  eve7i  upon  this  ^*^ 
day  dare  we  say  "It  is  Christ  that  died,"  without 
adding  with  St.  Paul,  "  Yea  rather,  that  was  raised 
from  the  dead."'  ^  We  should  be  false  to  the 
solemn  sincerity  of  this  memorial  day  if,  with  his- 
trionic artifice,  we  should  pretend  to  sorrow  as 
the  friends  of  Jesus  once  sorrowed  when  they  had 
no  hope,  —  as  the  Mother  sorrowed,  and  St.  John, 

1  Rom.  viii.  34. 
1 


^ 


FOREWORD 


of  the 
human 
under- 
standing 


or  those  others  who  foi^ook  and  fled,  who  had 
"  hoped,"  but  could  hope  no  more,  "  that  it  was 
he  which  should  redeem  Israel."  ^ 
Impotence  To-day,  it  is  true,  we  dwell  especially  upon  the 
act  of  sacrifice  and  upon  Christ  as  Victim.  And 
it  is  not  strange  if  we  find  ourselves  impotent  — 
I  do  not  say,  to  compass  by  the  intellect  this 
mystery,  but  —  to  rise  in  feeling  to  the  height  of 
this  tragedy.  As  we  have  felt,  or  failed  to  feel, 
upon  the  Athenian  acropolis,  on  the  field  of  Mara- 
thon, or  at  Rome,  so  now  upon  Mount  Calvary. 
Our  human  sensibilities,  once  pressed  beyond  their 
meagre  range,  recoil,  react ;  and  we  stand  futile, 
dumb,  indifferent  before  what  most  should  move 
us  to  wonder,  joy,  or  grief  So  stood  St.  John 
beside  the  Cross,  replete  with  too  much  woe,  as 
he  is  represented  with  just  feeling  in  a  famous 
picture  of  Munkacsy's,  —  the  Beloved  Disciple 
himself,  and  beside  the  Cross,  yet  as  remote  in 
spirit  from  that  tragedy  as  those  others  who 
"forsook  and  fled."  So  we  stand  to-day.  It  is 
unavailing,  it  is  worse  than  in  vain,  for  us  to 
strive  to  harrow  up  our  feelings  by  the  rehearsal 
of  every  wound  of  Jesus.  The  desire  to  put  our 
finger  into  the  prints  of  the  nails  and  our  hand 
in  his  side  2  is  in  us,  as  in  St.  Thomas,  a  sign  of 
our  unbelief  in  the  spiritual  Christ,  "the  Lord 
who  is  the  Spirit."^  The  risen  Christ  we  may 
1  Luke  xxiv.  21.  2  jo^n  xx.  25.  3  2  Cor.  iii.  18. 


CROSS— NOT  CRUCIFIX  3 

no  longer  call  "  Rabboni,''  —  therefore  he  saith, 
"  Touch  me  not.''  ^ 

We  do  not  forget  that  men  need  the  fire  of  Restraint 
strong  emotion  to  fuse  their  good  intentions  into  ^i^^Jem? 
an  effective  resolution.     But  we  also  may  not  for-  sufferings 
get,  what  the  sober  traditions  of  our  race  and  of 
our  Reformed  religion  should  teach  us,  that  the 
divine  sacrifice  is   not  made  more  significant  by 
frantic   effort    to   taste  the    details   of  slaughter. 
This  indulgence  and  profanation  is  forbidden  us, 
not  only  by  our  traditions,  but  by  all  that  is  sin- 
cerest,  strongest,  and  most  primitive  in  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Church  universal. 

Few    pictures    of   Fra    Angelico's    are    better  Fra  An- 
known  than  two  Crucifixions  in  the  convent  of  San  '(^^^i^ 
Marco.     Why  is  it  that  in  both  of  them  the  pious  fixiom 
friar  has  sketched  the  Burden  upon  the  Cross  so 
crudely  that  the  eye  cannot  dwell  upon  it,  but  is 
forced  to  sink  to  the  figures  below,  upon  which  he 
has  expended  the  utmost  of  his  art  ?     It  is  because 
he  knew  that  this  mystery  is  not  to  be  appre- 
hended by  fixing  it  with  a  bold  gaze  and  steadfast 
stare ;  but  with  half-averted  eye,  as  one  sees  best 
the  faintest  stars.     And  so  the  painter  bids  us 
read  its  meaning  in  the  upturned  face  of  Dominic, 
or  —  in  the  greater  fresco  of  the  chapter  room  — 
in  the  lives  of  the  monks  and  martyrs  of  all  ages 
grouped  beneath  the  Cross. 

1  John  XX.  16,  17. 


FOREWORD 


The  Cross 
in  the 
early 
Church 


Good 
Friday 
a  festival 


Humilia- 
tion and 
exnltation 


Fra  Angelico  is  here  true  to  the  spirit,  though 
he  breaks  the  letter  of  the  primitive  precept  which 
forbade  any  representation  of  the  Crucified.  This 
anniversary  of  Christ"'s  sacrifice  was  worthily  cele- 
brated for  nearly  six  hundred  years  before  any  one 
presumed  to  depict  the  Crucifixion  ;  and  not  for 
several  centuries  more  was  there  tolerated  such  a 
thing  as  the  representation  of  a  suffering,  a  naked, 
a  dead  Christ.  Even  the  Cross  itself  was  never 
pictured  to  the  eye  during  the  first  three  centuries, 
and  when  it  emerged  in  Christian  use  it  was  not 
in  its  realistic  form,  as  the  instrument  of  death, 
but  as  the  symbol  of  victory  and  as  the  tree  of 
life. 

Even  this  day  is  a  festal  day,  upon  which  we 
commemorate  not  so  much  the  death  of  Jesus  as 
the  work  of  our  redemption.  Or  is  it  only  in 
irony  that  we  call  it  Good  Friday ;  and  does 
there  still  cleave  to  it  in  our  minds  the  notion 
of  ill  luck,  as  though  to-day  a  work  had  been  un- 
propitiously commenced  rather  than  victoriously 
accomplished  ? 

The  crucifixion  and  death  of  Christ  may  justly 
be  regarded  as  the  lowest  step  of  his  humiliation. 
So  St.  Paul  regards  it.  Yet  he  never  for  a 
moment  forgets  that  "he  that  descended  is  the 
same  also  that  ascended  far  above  all  heavens,  that 
he   might  fill  all  things.""^     And  in  the  second 

1  Eph.  iv.  10. 


CROSS —NOT  CRUCIFIX  5 

chapter  of  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  where 
he  most  expressly  develops  the  theme  of  Christ's 
humiliation,  he  also  most  expressly  notes  that  this 
lowliest  step  proved  the  way  to  glory.  Jesus  made 
the  vast  descent  from  heaven  to  earth,  from  cre- 
ator to  creature ;  and  again  within  the  human 
sphere  he  descended  to  the  lowliest  human  condi- 
tion, to  death  itself,  the  common  humiliation  of 
men,  and  that  in  its  uncommon  and  most  shame- 
ful form  —  upon  the  cross.  But  this  lowest  step 
brings  us  with  the  full  force  of  moral  demonstra- 
tion to  the  triumphant  *'  Wherefore  God  also 
highly  exalted  him";  and  that  name  which  has 
been  made  glorious  above  every  name  is  chiefly 
glorious  because  it  is  the  memorial  of  his  humilia- 
tion and  the  symbol  of  his  loving  service. 

Plainly,  therefore,  St.  John  ^  in  the  right  when 
he  interprets  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  not  as  a 
humiliation,  but  as  the  conclusive  and  consum- 
mating glory  of  Jesus'*  revelation  of  the  divine 
love. 

There  are  two  aspects  which  we  may  distinguish  St.  Leo  on 
in  the  Crucifixion  ;  but  it  is  a  dull  and  obtuse  ^alofthe 
mind  which  must  divide  in  order  to  distinguish.  Passion 
Must  we  have  nothing  but  sorrow  to-day  and  re- 
serve all  the  joy  for  Easter?     It  was  not  so  in  the 
earliest  time.     In  the  beginning,  this  day  of  the 
Passion  was  also  Easter  Day,  the  Christian  Pass- 
over, a  single  anniversary  of  the  whole  act  of  re- 


6  FOREWORD 

demption.  And  even  when  the  Sunday  festival 
was  distinguished  from  it,  this  Friday  celebration 
did  not  for  a  long  time  lose  all  trace  of  its  solemn 
gladness.  It  was  the  gloom  of  the  Middle  Ages 
which  perverted  it.  We  are  more  in  harmony 
with  the  early  than  with  the  later  Church  of  Rome 
when  we  appropriate  the  words  of  St.  Leo, — 
Roman  Pontiff  and  also  Church  Father,  —  which 
he  uttered  in  a  sermon  upon  the  Passion,  delivered 
on  the  Sunday  which  precedes  this  day  :  "  Desired 
by  us  and  dear  to  the  whole  world,  the  festival  of 
the  Sunday  of  the  Passion  is  at  hand  which  in  the 
exultation  of  spiritual  joys  suffers  us  not  to  be 
silent.'' 

"  Suffers  us  not  to  be  silent."  These  words 
suggest  another  paradox  with  which  this  anniver- 
sary confronts  us,  —  not  now  the  question  whether 
grief  or  gladness,  but  whether  speech  or  silence, 
best  comports  with  the  day.  And  so  St.  Leo  per- 
tinently goes  on  to  say  :  "  Wherefore,  although  it 
is  difficult  wisely,  worthily,  and  aptly  to  discourse 
of  this  solemnity,  nevertheless  the  priest  is  not 
free  to  deprive  the  people  of  the  office  of  the  ser- 
mon in  respect  to  so  great  a  mystery  of  divine 
mercy,  since  the  very  matter  of  it,  unutterable  as 
it  is,  bestows  the  faculty  of  speech,  nor  can  that 
which  is  said  be  deficient,  while  it  is  never  pos- 
sible to  say  enough  ;  —  the  senses  labor,  genius 
flags,  eloquence    fails ;    well  it  is  for  us  that  to 


CROSS— NOT  CRUCIFIX  7 

be   duly  sensible   of  the    Lord's    majesty  is  not 
required  of  us." 

Standing  to-day  on  Mount  Calvary,  we  may  well  '\Hear 
remember  that  heavenly  voice  which  came  to  the 
disciples  on  the  Mountain  of  Transfiguration, 
"This  is  my  beloved  Son,  hear  him.''''  To-day 
we  would  listen  to  no  other  voice.  If  there  must 
be  a  sermon,  we  had  rather  it  were  not  quite  a 
sermon,  but  something  between  speech  and  silence, 
—  a  meditation,  but  a  meditation  in  which  we  all 
of  us  join,  and  in  which,  therefore,  we  need  to 
be  led  by  a  common  suggestion  through  the 
spoken  word.  To-day  it  needs  no  din  of  the 
voice  to  catch  our  ears,  and  no  stirring  appeal  to 
touch  our  hearts,  as  in  all  the  quietness  of 
thought  we  listen  to  the  Seven  Words  from  the 
Cross.  It  is  fanciful  of  us,  I  know,  to  take  for 
our  guidance  just  these  seven  "words''  which  we 
gather  from  the  several  Evangelists.  But  such 
chance  guidance  suits  the  mood  in  which  we  are 
fain  to  put  away  from  us  the  rigor  of  logical  sys- 
tem. When  we  stand  before  the  incomprehensible 
we  most  are  fain  to  symbolize,  to  speak  as  a 
child,  with  the  implicit  confession  that  we  know 
only  in  part. 

Again  I  say,  we  gaze  to-day  at  a  Cross  which 
is  not  black  with  dread  and  disillusion,  but  radi- 
ant with  a  new  teaching,  a  new  hope,  a  new  life ; 
and  we  come  in  its  light  and  peace  to  listen  if  the 


8  FOREWORD 

risen  Christ  will  speak  some  word  to  us  from  out 
the  glory,  "some  sin  uncloak,  some  stricter  rule 
command."" 

We  may  take,  as  the  motto  of  our  whole  medi- 
tation upon  the  Crucifixion,  a  word  which  St.  John 
records  as  the  foreword  of  the  Passion,  spoken  in 
full  prospect  of  the  Cross  : 

NOW    IS   THE    SON    OF    MAN    GLORIFIED,   AND 
GOD   IS  GLORIFIED  IN  HIM.— John  xiii.  31. 


THE   FIRST   WORD 

MERCY 

And  Jesus  said:    Father,  forgive    them  ;    for    they 

KNOW   NOT   WHAT   THEY    DO. 

Luke  xxiii.  34. 
THEY   KNOW    NOT    WHAT   THEY    DO 

THIS  word  of  Jesus,  "  they  know  not  what  Condem- 
they  do,"'  at  once  extenuates  and  con-  ^JJJ^^^.. 
demns.       Not    know,     when    all    their  tenuation 
national  history  was  a  training   for  this    sight  ? 
God  had  instructed  them   by  all   his   prophets, 
"rising    up    early   and    sending   them,"*"*   as    the 
striking    Hebrew    phrase    puts    it,    and    yet    at 
this  supreme  moment  it  may  be    said  of  them, 
"they  know    not   what   they    do."'     Is    not   this 
condemnation  ? 

Condemnation  the  Jewish  rulers  might  have  Popular 
accepted  with  composure  from  him  whom  they  j^Zs^fate 
wronged ;  but  this  damning  sentence  uttered  as 
an  extenuating  plea  for  mercy  must  have  been 
unendurable.  The?j  not  know  what  they  did, 
when  they  were  then  in  the  act  of  accomplishing 
a  long-cherished  purpose,  shrewdly  planned  and 


10  FIRST   WORD 

ably  executed  ?  Rather  it  is  "  this  man "  that 
knew  not  what  he  did.  They  have  defeated  his 
dream  of  being  king,  and  all  his  other  purposes  of 
every  kind  are  brought  low  in  death. 

Officially  the  rulers  felt  themselves  offended  by 
the  superscription,  "this  is  the  king  of  the 
JEWS,""  which  Pilate  insisted  upon  attaching  to  the 
Cross.  They  were  willing,  however,  that  Pilate 
should  write,  "  He  said,  I  am  king  of  the  Jews."" 
They  might  well  think  that  this  manifest  irony 
served  only  the  more  clearly  to  display  the  flagrant 
disproportion  between  the  claim  of  power  and  the 
proof  of  impotence. 
Jesus  And     the    people  —  even    such    as    had    been 

^mniunc^  attracted  by  his  comfortable  words,  and  impressed 
his  mis-      by  the  divine  authority  of  his  voice  —  even  they 
judged  him  now  by  what  is  ever  the  crowd's  secur- 
est   warrant,  —  his   failure  :    "  He    saved  others  ; 
himself  he  cannot  save." 

Yet,  all  along,  it  was  Jesus  that  was  steadfastly 
accomplishing  his  mission,  while  the  Jewish  people, 
at  cross-purposes  with  their  prophetic  hope,  were 
accomplishing  upon  themselves  an  adverse  and  un- 
looked-for fate.  Sheep  they  were,  rending  their 
shepherd ;  a  nation  crucifying  their  king.  Not 
know  what  they  did?  —  when  Pilate  himself  put 
to  them  this  very  question,  "  Will  ye  crucify  your 
king  ? ''  and  their  servile  cry  rang  out,  "  We  have 


sion 


MERCY  11 

no  king  but  Cassar ! "  With  that  they  repudi- 
ated, openly  and  wittingly,  their  claim  of  national 
independence;  unwittingly  they  abjured  the 
Messiah. 

"  And  they  cried  out  exceedingly,  Let  him  be 
crucified'';  and  with  that  cry  they  raised  Jesus 
to  his  throne.  Again  it  was  true  of  them  that 
they  knew  not  what  they  did. 

Before  this  time  Jesus  had  never  announced  ex-  Hejpro- 
pressly  that  he  was  Christ  and  King.     Such  an  \f^^if 
announcement  was  inexpedient  so  long  as  its  real  King 
purport  was  sure  to  be  misapprehended.     And  so, 
even  when  Jesus  had  led  his  Apostles  to  this  grand 
discovery,  he  forbade  them  to  pubhsh  it.     It  was 
not  until  this  last  hour  that  he  could  publicly 
appear  as  King.     Even  then  he  was  not  willing  to 
assert  what  was  still  sure  to  be  misconceived ;  but 
he  was  at  the  same  time  unwilling  to  disallow  a 
claim  which  impending  events  were  soon  to  reveal 
in  its  true  character. 

"  Art  thou  a  king  then .? ''  Pilate  asks  him.  King 
And  Jesus  rephes,  "  Thou  sayest  that  I  am  a  king.  pf^J'/g 
To  this  end  have  I  been  born,  and  to  this  end  am 
I  come  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness 
unto  the  truth.'' ^  This  doubtless  expresses  St. 
John's  interpretation  of  the  function  of  the  reveal- 
ing Word.  What  is  historically  significant  is  the 
fact  that  Jesus,  while  he  does  not  expressly  dis- 
1  John  xviii.  3T. 


12  FIRST   WORD 

avow  the  claim,  only  implicitly  allows  it,  straight- 
way interpreting  it  in  terms  of  a  higher  kingship 
than  Pilate  conceived.  For  to  preach  the  truth 
is  no  part  of  the  idea  of  an  earthly  kingship. 
And  in  fact,  the  substantial  reality  of  this  regal 
dominion  over  the  minds  of  men  Jesus  miffht  then 
claim  as  never  before.  As  a  preacher  Jesus  had 
never  addressed  such  an  audience :  it  was  the 
world,  Roman  as  well  as  Jew,  —  "  for  these  things 
were  not  done  in  a  corner.""  Now  that  the  clouds 
of  misconception  were  about  to  be  dissipated,  he 
could  claim  an  absolute  and  universal  jurisdiction  : 
"  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my 
voice." 
King  If,  therefore,  Jesus'  throne  was  a  pulpit,  the 

Crol^^^'  Cross  was  throne  and  pulpit  both.  The  whole 
shame  of  crucifixion  lay  in  the  publicity  of  its  ex- 
position of  the  crucified.  But  this  very  publicity 
constituted  the  glory  of  Jesus'*  Cross,  where  the 
divine  love  *'  made  a  vshow  "^  of  the  despoiled 
powers  of  evil,  "  openly  triumphing  over  them  in 
it."  1  When  Jesus  said,  "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  myself,"  he  was  certainly 
thinking  of  his  elevation  to  heaven,  and  of  the 
power  and  dominion  that  were  to  be  his  upon  his 
supernal  throne,  —  thither  he  would  draw  men. 
But  St.  John  can  be  convicted  of  no  ineptitude 
when  he  interprets  this  word  as  a  mysterious  hint 

1  Col.  ii.  15. 


MERCY  13 

of  the  *'  manner  of  death  he  should  die/'  ^  The 
Crucifixion  was  a  Hfting  up.  That  was  the  essen- 
tial shame  of  it.  But  it  proved  a  lifting  up 
to  an  incomparable  dominance  over  the  hearts 
of  men. 

The  essential  truth  of  St.  John's  interpretation  King 
of  Jesus'*  answer  to  Pilate  is  attested  by  St.  Mat-  ci^Jjth 
thew's  Gospel.  For  the  same  question  had  already 
been  put  by  Caiaphas.  The  word  "  Christ "  is  a 
figurative  expression  for  king ;  the  one  word  was 
natural  to  the  Jew,  the  other  to  the  Roman. 
Jesus'*  long  silence  before  his  accusers  was  finally 
broken  when  the  high  priest  exclaimed,  ''I  adjure 
thee  by  the  living  God,  that  thou  tell  us  whether 
thou  be  the  Christ."  Jesus  answered,  "  Thou  hast 
said  it.""^  If  he  were  to  answer  the  question 
according  to  the  meaning  of  the  questioner,  he 
could  not  say  simply,  /  am ;  for  what  Caiaphas 
conceived  the  Christ  must  be  —  namely,  an  earthly 
potentate  —  that  Jesus  was  not.  Yet  the  claim 
that  was  to  be  his  death  warrant  he  could  not 
now  disavow.  Therefore  he  replied,  "  Thou  hast 
said  it.''*  Therefore,  too,  he  introduces  with  an 
advei'sative  particle  what  he  has  expressly  to  say 
about   the  sort   of  kingship    his   is.     Jesus  pro- 

1  John  xii.  33. 

2  Matt.  xxvi.  63,  64;  cf.  Mark  xiv.  61,  62;  Luke  xxii. 
67-69.  Mark  ignores  the  significance  of  Christ's  half  as- 
sent, while  Luke  seeks  to  render  it  intelligible  by  a 
paraphrase. 


14 


FIRST    WORD 


His  reign 
begun 
upon  the 
Cross 


ceeded  to  supplement  the  half  truth  of  Caiaphas' 
conception  of  the  Christ  with  a  notion  which  so 
vastly   exceeded   it    that   it    must  appear   rather 
as  a  contrast  than  as  a  mere  explication  or  ad- 
dendum.    '' Neveii^hekss  I  say  unto  you,  Hence- 
forth ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  at  the 
right   hand    of  the    Power,   and   coming  on   the 
clouds   of    heaven."      At    this    the    high    priest 
rent   his   garments,    saying,    '^He    hath    spoken 
blasphemy."     Blasphemy  Jesus  was  adjudged  to 
have  uttered,  not  because  he  confessed  to  beinir 
the  Christ,  in  Caiaphas'  sense  (for  that  was  not 
a  capital  offence  in  Jewish  law),  but  because  he 
claimed   a   divine    status;    therefore    the   council 
exclaimed,  "He  is  liable  to  the  death  penalty." 
With   that  sentence  they  thought  to  defeat  an 
ambition  after  earthly  rule  (which  he  would  not 
have),  and  they  raised  him   to  the  transcendent 
dominion    which    he   claimed.      And   they  knew 
not  what  they  did. 

"  Henceforth  "  is  the  w^ord  Jesus  uses,  —  mean- 
ing, not  at  the  end  of  the  world,  but  "from  this 
time  on."  In  another  place  Jesus  had  said, 
"  There  are  some  of  those  standing  here  that  shall 
not  taste  death  till  they  see  the  Son  of  man  enter- 
ing upon  his  reign."  i  Jesus  had  no  mind  to  claim 
the  kingly  title  till  he  had  entered  upon  his 
kingly  estate  and  received  the  power  which 
1  Matt.  xvi.  28. 


MERCY  15 

matched  his  authority.  The  power  which  he 
"  henceforth  '"*  exercised  in  the  midst  of  his  Church 
was  proof  of  his  exaltation.  In  one  sense  it  is 
perfectly  true  to  say  that  in  the  lowliness  of  his 
earthly  ministry  Jesus  was  not  i/et  the  Christ :  he 
lacked  the  power  and  majesty  of  kingship  ;  he  had 
not  yet  entered  upon  his  reign.  None  recognized 
this  so  clearly  as  Jesus.  But  it  was  the  same 
Jesus  that  was  to  receive  the  dominion  ;  and  even 
while  he  was  not  manifested  as  king,  or  detected 
as  such,  his  right  to  rule  was  ever  the  same.  As 
Christ  he  was  convicted  by  the  council ;  as  King 
he  was  condemned  by  Pilate  ;  as  King  he  was 
mocked  by  the  soldiers  ;  and  the  irony  of  the 
superscription  designated  him  as  King  upon  the 
Cross.  Irony  upon  irony !  He  was  King  in- 
deed. And  they  knew  not  what  they  did. 
This  word  sums  up  the  tragic  fate  of  the 
Jewish  nation. 

FATHER,    FORGIVE   THEM 
Ignorance  is  sin,  and  it  exacts  its  own  proper  Venial 
penalties.     But  it  is  not  in  itself  a  mortal  sin  :  mortal 
there  is  hope  for  those  who  "  know  not  what  they  ***** 
do.'"'     The   Old  Testament  already  made   a  dis- 
tinction of  a  sort  between  venial  and  mortal  sin. 
The  latter  was  called  sinning  "  with  a  high  hand,"" 
—  that  is,  with  clear,  resolute  purpose  of  rebellion 
against  God.     We  may  detect  a  reflection  of  this 


16  FIRST   WORD 

in  that  word  of  Jesus,  where  he  says,  "Whoso- 
ever shall  speak  a  word  against  the  Son  of  man 
[perhaps  he  means  here  man^  simply],  it  shall  be 
forgiven  him  ;  but  whosoever  shall  speak  against 
the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him, 
neither  in  this  world,  nor  in  that  which  is  to 
come."  ^  This  stern  saying  Jesus  uttered  in  holy 
wrath.  For  there  were  some  that  had  seen  in  him 
the  spirit  of  divine  power  and  beneficent  love,  — 
healing  the  sick,  casting  out  devils,  raising  the 
dead,  —  and  that  good  Spirit,  the  giver  of  life, 
they  had  called  Beelzebub. 
Sinning  in  Among  the  many  that  actively  abetted  or  un- 
tffnoiance  p^otestingly  witnessed  the  Crucifixion  there  were 
doubtless  some  who  saw  the  vision  of  divine  holi- 
ness and  love,  and  hated  it  because  they  loved 
the  darkness.  But  there  were  more  who  knew 
not  what  they  did.  Was  there  such  an  one  there, 
may  we  suppose,  as  Saul  of  Tarsus,  a  lover  of 
righteousness,  thougli  not  according  to  knowledge, 
from  whose  eyes  the  scales  had  not  yet  fallen  ?  If 
not  he  himself,  there  were  doubtless  others  about 
the  Cross  who  had  been  indifferent  or  hostile  to 
Jesus,  yet  became  bondservants  of  Jesus  Christ. 
We  remember  that  hitherto  even  "  his  brethren  '' 
did  not  believe  in  him.  For  the  Jews  as  a  people, 
does  not  our  Lord's  petition  give  fundament  for 
Browning's  apology  ?  — 

1  Matt.  xii.  32 ;  cf.  Luke  xii.  10  and  1  John  v.  16. 


MERCY  17 

*^  Thou  !  if  thou  wast  he,  who  at  mid-watch  came, 
By  the  starHght,  naming  a  dubious  name  ! 
And  if,  too  heavy  with  sleep  —  too  rash 
With  fear  —  O  thou,  if  that  martyr-gash 
Fell  on  thee  coming  to  take  thine  own. 
And  we  gave  thee  the  Cross,  when  we  owed  thee 
the  Throne  — 

"  Thou  art  the  Judge.     We  are  bruised  thus. 
But,  the  Judgment  over,  join  sides  with  us  !  " 

The  Son  of  man  acknowledged  no  personal  ene-  Forgive- 
mies.     And  "  Jesus  Christ,  yesterday  and  to-day  ^HfJ^^g 
the   same  —  and  forever,"  counts  only  those  his 
foes  who  hate  righteousness  and  the  Spirit  of  it. 
Such  there  are.     But  more  there  are  who  "  know 
not  what  they  do." 

"The  sign  of  Jonah  the  prophet,"  to  which 
Jesus  once  appealed,^  signified  in  the  first  in- 
stance the  unexpected  repentance  of  the  Gentiles  ; 
but,  above  and  beyond  that,  it  bears  enduring 
testimony  to  the  incalculable  mercies  of  God,  to 
Gentile  as  well  as  Jew,  but  to  Jew  as  well  as 
Gentile.  Hear  what  St.  Paul,  addressing  the 
Gentiles,  says  of  the  Jews  :  ^  "  For  if  thou  wast  cut 
out  of  that  which  is  by  nature  a  wild  olive  tree, 
and  wast  grafted  contrary  to  nature  into  a  good 
olive  tree  :  how  much  more  shall  these,  which  are 
the  natural  branches,  be  grafted  into  their  own 

1  Luke  xi.  29-39.  2  Romans  xi.  24,  12,  15. 

2 


18  FIRST   WORD 

olive  tree  ?  "  "  Now  if  their  fall  is  the  riches  of 
the  world,  and  their  loss  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles  ; 
how  much  more  their  fulness  ? ''  "  For  if  the 
casting  away  of  them  is  the  reconciling  of  the 
world,  what  the  receiving  of  them,  but  life  from 
the  dead?" 
By  his  With  this  word  of  personal  pardon  Jesus  seals 

givlmss  ^^^^^  ^  solemn  Amen  some  of  his  hardest  precepts, 
Jesus  con-  —  which  we  are  fain  to  interpret  away,  or  to  re- 
precepts  gard  as  sheer  counsels  of  perfection,  but  which  he 
announced  as  the  mere  condition  of  participation 
in  his  kingdom.  Think  of  the  implication  of  that 
prayer  which  he  has  taught  us  to  take  upon  our 
lips  :  "  Father,  forgive  us,  as  we  forgive."  With 
this  word  Jesus  introduces  a  new  note  into  human 
life,  —  not  absolutely  new,  yet  so  new  that  it 
can  be  contrasted  with  all  that  was  recognized  as 
duty  by  "  them  of  old  time "  :  "  But  I  say  unto 
you.  Love  your  enemies,  and  pray  for  them  that 
persecute  you  :  that  ye  may  be  sons  of  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  :  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise 
on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the 
just  and  the  unjust."^  Such  precepts  would  re- 
main forever  too  hard  for  us,  were  it  not  —  as  the 
First  Epistle  of  Peter  says  ^  —  that  "  Christ  also 
suffered  for  you,  leaving  you  an  example,  that  ye 
should  follow  in  his  steps :  who  did  no  sin,  neither 
was  guile  found  in  his  mouth :  who,  when  he  was 
1  Matt  V.  44,  45.  2  i  Pet.  ii.  21-23. 


MERCY  19 

reviled,    reviled    not   again ;     when    he    suffered, 
threatened  not/"' 

"  Be  ye  merciful,  even  as  your  Father  is  nierci-  Imitation 
ful.^i  A  new  note  this  in  human  life,  far  yet ''-^•^'•'^* 
from  being  predominant,  but  throughout  the 
world  it  sounds  increasing  like  a  bell.  St.  Ste- 
phen, who  was  the  first  to  suffer  in  the  likeness  of 
his  Lord,  showed  also  a  heart  attuned  in  harmony 
with  his  when  he  cried,  "Lord,  lay  not  this  sin 
to  their  charge.""  ^  Nor  do  we  need  to  look  back 
to  stories  of  ancient  saints  for  instances  of  men 
who  beneath  the  cross  have  found  power  even  to 
forgive  their  enemies. 

JESUS  REIGNS  FROM  THE  TREE  —  AND  AN  ACT 
OF   ROYAL  CLEMENCY  IS  HIS  FIRST  WORD. 

1  Luke  vi.  36.  2  Acts  vii.  60. 


THE   SECOND   WORD 

SALVATION    AND   JUDGMENT 

And  one  of  the  malefactors  which  were  hanged  with  him 
railed  on  him,  saying.  Art  thou  the  Christ  ?  Save  thyself  and 
us.  But  the  other  answered  and  rebuking  him  said,  Fearest 
thou  not  God,  seeing  thou  at't  in  the  same  condemnation,  and 
we  indeed  justly,  for  we  receive  the  due  reioard  of  our  deeds  : 
hut  this  man  hath  done  nothing  amiss.  And  he  said,  Jesus, 
remember  me  when  thou  enterest  upon  thy  reign.  And  he  said 
unto   him :    Verily  i   say  itnto  thee.  To-day  shalt  thou 

BE   WITH    aiE   IN    PARADISE. 

Luke  xxiii.  39-43.     Cf.  Mark  xv.  32;  Matt.  xx\di.  44. 


A    COMFORTABLE    WORD 
To  die  is     ^    ■    ^HIS  is  a  comfortable  word  which  Jesus 

J.  also  to  us  the  glad  assurance  that  in  the 
moment  of  death  we  may  expect  —  after  no  long 
waiting,  but  as  it  were  "  to-day ""  —  to  be  with 
him.  In  whatsoever  place  it  may  be,  enough 
to  know  that  it  is  with  him.  There  may  await 
us  a  still  fuller  life  beyond  the  resurrection : 
enough  that  at  once  we  shall  be  with  him.  What- 
ever holy  discipline  may  engage  us  in  paradise, 
there  shall  be  no  dread  waiting  before  we  are  with 


SALVATION  AND  JUDGMENT      91 

the  Lord.  There  is  no  fearful  interval  during 
which  the  human  spirit,  cast  out  of  the  body, 
"  wanders  in  waterless  places,  seeking  rest  and 
finding  none "" :  but,  as  St.  Paul  says,  we  are  of 
good  courage,  knowing  that  to  be  away  from  the 
body-home  is  to  be  at  home  with  the  Lord.^  We 
have  nowhere  a  more  definite  statement  from 
Jesus  about  the  life  beyond  death.  It  tells  us 
little,  but  it  tells  us  enough. 

"  When  thou  enterest  upon  thy  reign,'"*  said  the  Jesus' 
thief.  "To-day,"  replied  Jesus.  We  have  no-l^^luh 
where  else  so  definite  a  statement  about  the  time  ^^  death 
when  Christ  shall  receive  his  kingdom  and  begin 
to  reign.  We  have  seen  that  it  could  not  be 
while  he  was  hampered  and  humiliated  by  the 
restrictions  of  humanitv  in  the  flesh.  We  here 
learn  that  no  sooner  was  he  relieved  of  these 
restrictions  than  he  entered  upon  his  reign.  Dear 
as  the  old  relation  was,  when  Jesus  dwelt  with  his 
disciples  in  terms  of  social  intercourse,  it  was  re- 
placed by  a  better,  when  he  became  the  object  of 
their  religious  faculty,  defining  and  satisfying  their 
yearning  after  intercourse  with  a  supersensual  so- 
ciety. When  the  Lord  was  apprehended  as  the 
Spirit,^  his  presence  was  experienced  no  longer 
merely  with  men  but  "in'"*  them  :  ^  —  thei^e  is 
where  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is :  then  is  when  his 

1  2  Cor.  V.  6-8.  '^  2  Cor.  iii.  17,  18. 

*  John  XV.  4,  5 ;  xvii.  23. 


22  SECOND    WORD 

true  dominion  began. ^  Jesus  tells  us  very  little 
about  "  the  last  things,''  either  as  they  concern 
him  or  concern  us,  and  much  that  we  think  we 
learn  from  him  we  learn  only  by  gross  literalism 
in  interpreting  his  most  figurative  language. 
Faith,  We  speak  of  the  ^'penitent  thief";  but  he  is 

and  for- '  ^^^^  ^^  called  in  the  Gospel,  neither  is  there  any- 
giveness  thing  in  the  story  to  indicate  such  an  experience 
as  we  associate  with  this  word.  True,  he  was 
doing  penance,  and  that  to  the  uttermost;  and 
though  he  suffered  it  unwillingly,  he  yet  acknowl- 
edged that  it  was  ''  the  due  reward  *"  of  his  deeds. 
But  the  same  penance  was  exacted  of  the  other 
thief,  and  it  is  implied  that  he  too  recognized  it  as 
condign.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Jesus'  prom- 
ise of  blessedness  implied  the  forgiveness  of  sin. 
It  is  also  true  that  Jesus  ever  demanded  repent- 
ance. It  is  therefore  the  more  striking  that  he 
forgives  sins  without  being  asked.  Whatever 
men  asked  trustfully  of  Jesus  and  importunately 
he  was  sure  to  give  them.  And  so  compassionate 
was  he  of  their  infirmities  that,  when  through 
ignorance  in  asking  they  asked  amiss,  —  craving 
bodily  health  when  they  most  needed  the  healing 
of  their  souls,  —  he  gave  them  unasked  the  greater 
boon  with  the  less. 

So  it  was  with  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy.^    It  was 
only  a  mute  appeal  this  man  made  even  for  heal- 
1  Luke  xvii.  21.  2  Mark  ii.  4,  5. 


SALVATION  AND  JUDGMENT      23 

ing  of  the  body.  But  louder  than  words  spoke 
the  faithfuhiess  of  his  friends,  who  had  overcome 
all  obstacles  to  carry  him  into  the  house.  There- 
fore "  Jesus  seeing  their  faith  said  unto  the  sick 
of  the  palsy,  Son,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  "  —  which 
none  of  them  had  thought  of  asking.  This  is  not 
the  only  man  that  has  been  saved  by  the  faith  of 
others.  In  any  case  it  is  faith  that  saves,  not  re- 
pentance. To  a  woman  who  showed  the  most 
extravagant  signs  of  compunction  and  repentance 
Jesus  said,  " '^^Xiy  faith  hath  saved  thee.""  ^ 

Repentance  is  a  normal  operation  of  faith,  and  Whole 
in  turn  it  is  the  birth-throe  of  a  larger  faith.  But  /"^^^^^^ 
what  Jesus  values  is  not  the  process  and  the  hy  whole 
struggle,  but  the  attainment.  And  this  he  counts 
most  perfect  in  the  child,  where  there  is  no 
struggle  or  process,  but  where  faith  is  an  intuition 
and  trust  an  instinct.  Moreover,  though  Jesus 
admired  a  great  faith  and  desired  a  large  faith,  he 
exacted  neither.  What  he  did  insist  upon  was  a 
whole  faith,  though  it  were  as  small  as  a  grain  of 
mustard  seed ;  and  to  that  he  responded  —  not 
with  proportionate  gifts,  with  small  morsels  of 
grace,  but  disproportionately  —  with  his  whole 
grace.  The  dying  thief  may  have  had  a  small 
faith,  and  a  narrow  faith,  and  a  low  sort  of  faith ; 
but  he  assuredly  had  a  whole  faith,  when  he 
greeted  Jesus  upon  the  Cross  as  heir  apparent  to 

1  Luke  viL  50. 


24  SECOND    WORD 

a  throne,  —  and  in  royal  response  Jesus  gave  him 
all  that  a  subject  can  ask  of  a  king, 

CHRIST  AS   SAVIOUR 
Last  in-         Upon  this  word  of  pardon  to  the  dying  thief  we 
^Jems'        must  still  linger  long  enough  to  note  that  it  was 
pastoral     the  last  instance  in  his  earthly  ministry  of  Jesus' 
direct  and  individual  dealing  with  a  sinful  soul. 
The  wonder  of  it  is  that  neither  his  own  agony, 
nor  the  task  of  accomplishing  a  universal  redemp- 
tion, could  preoccupy  his  mind  to  the  exclusion 
of  one  individual  sinner's  appeal. 
Jesus  as  We  think  chiefly  of  the  indirect  and  univei'sal 

^ouls  significance  of  Jesus'  ministry;  but  the    Gospels 

represent  him  as  a  preacher  of  righteousness  and 
salvation,  directly  and  personally  engaged  in  the 
cure  of  souls.  In  this  aspect  his  ministry  is  com- 
parable in  kind  with  that  of  his  disciples  through- 
out all  the  Christian  centuries.  He  is  the  great 
Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls.^  He  was  a  fisher 
of  men  before  he  enlisted  Peter  and  Andrew  in 
that  calling.2  How  high  a  calling  it  is,  we  per- 
ceive most  clearly  from  the  fact  that  Jesus  him- 
self found  in  it  his  chiefest  joy,  and  accounted  it 
the  highest  performance  of  righteousness. 
His  joy  in  The  joy  which  Jesus  found  in  preaching  the 
preac  mg  Q.Qgpgi^   g^j-j^j  \^  witnessing  its   saving  effects,  is 

1  1  Pet.  ii.  25 ;  Heb.  xiii.  20 ;  John  x.  1-16. 

2  Matt.  iv.  19  ;  Mark.  i.  17  ;  cf.  Luke  v.  10. 


SALVATION  AND  JUDGMENT      25 

shown  in  the  first  glad  months  of  his  public  min- 
istry in  Galilee,  when,  in  response  to  the  urgency 
of  the  people  clamoring  to  see  him,  he  left  the 
desert  solitude  with  its  divine  companionship  of 
prayer,  and  eagerly  cried,  "  Let  us  go  elsewhere 
into  the  next  towns,  that  I  may  preach  there  also  ; 
for  to  this  end  came  I  forth."'  ^ 

This  saying  reminds  us  of  Jesus'*  response  to  Jesus  the 
Pilate  :  "  Thou  sayest  that  I  am  a  king :  to  this  ^^^  ^^ 
end  have  I  been  born,  and  to  this  end  am  I  come 
into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  unto 
the  truth/'  ^  The  character  of  his  kingship,  as  it 
was  exercised  in  his  earthly  life,  is  expressed  in  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  preacher.  The  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  is  a  direct  preparation  for  the  king- 
dom, and  although  its  work  is  accomplished  un- 
observed, in  the  hearts  of  men,  Jesus  attaches  to 
it  a  value  hardly  inferior  to  the  ultimate  mani- 
festation of  the  kingdom  in  glory. 

St.  John  is  therefore  justified  in  summing  up  Hisin- 

.,  1     T        '      -n  p    T  'J.  x"  xi.     dividual 

the  whole  signincance  oi  Jesus  m  terms  oi  the  ^^^^^^ 

revealing  Word.  Nor  does  St.  John  suffer  this 
lofty  generality  to  obscure  the  fact  of  Jesus' joy 
in  his  personal  and  individual  contact  with  men. 
The  exclamation  of  Jesus  by  the  well  of  Jacob 
sounds  like  a  scrap  from  one  of  the  Synoptic  Gos- 
pels :  "  Lift  up  your  eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields, 
that  they  are  white  already  unto  the  harvest.""^ 
1  Mark  i.  35-38.        2  John  xviii.  37.        »  John  iv.  35. 


26 


SECOND    WORD 


Saving 
souls  a 
work  of 
righteous- 


ness 


Relief  of 

hodily 

ailments 


We  have  here  to  observe  especially  that  the  joy 
which  Jesus  experienced  in  contemplating  the 
ripening  fruits  of  his  husbandry  was  not  prompted 
by  thousands  crowding  to  hear  him,  but  by  a 
chance  conversation  with  one  sinful  Samaritan 
woman.  The  joy  which  that  experience  afforded 
him  is  expressed  by  the  rapt  absorption  which 
rendered  him  indifferent  to  the  food  his  disciples 
were  fetching  him,  and  by  his  enigmatic  reply  to 
them,  "  I  have  meat  to  eat  which  ve  know  not. 
.  .  .  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent 
me,  and  to  accomplish  his  work."  ^ 

Righteousness,  in  the  broad  sense  in  which 
Jesus  understood  it,  did  not  mean  the  literal  per- 
formance of  legal  precepts ;  it  meant  to  do  the 
will  of  God.  God's  will,  as  Jesus  knew  and  re- 
vealed it,  is  that  every  man  shall  be  saved.  There- 
fore, to  co-operate  in  saving  men  is  the  highest 
performance  of  righteousness  for  every  child  of 
God,  and  the  highest  privilege  he  can  attain  on 
earth. 

Jesus  rejoiced  in  the  relief  of  human  distress  in 
any  form.  We  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
he  healed  men  of  their  bodily  ailments  only  as  a 
means  to  the  healing  of  their  souls.  It  is  per- 
fectly clear  from  the  Gospels  that  his  deeds  of 
kindness  were  not  prompted  by  any  ulterior 
motive,  but  were  the  spontaneous  expression  of 

1  John  iv.  31-34. 


SALVATION  AND  JUDGMENT      27 

his  love  for  men.  It  was  men  he  would  help,  — 
men  in  the  concrete,  and  not  the  loveless  abstrac- 
tion which  we  commonly  denote  when  we  say 
"  souls."  He  was  prompted  to  help  them  in  every 
distress,  and  was  ready  to  employ  any  means  in 
his  power.  Having  resisted  the  temptation  to 
perform  miracles  on  his  own  behalf,  he  could  not 
resist  the  impulse  to  exert  his  supernatural  powers 
for  the  relief  of  others.  This  relief  of  bodily  dis- 
tress Jesus  accounted  a  work  of  righteousness. 
The  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan  clearly  reveals 
this  estimate  of  deeds  of  kindness.  But  it  is  re- 
vealed no  less  emphatically  with  reference  to  his 
own  acts.  This  appears  from  the  conclusion  of 
his  argument  with  the  Pharisees  about  the  pro- 
priety of  healing  on  the  sabbath  the  man  with  a 
withered  hand :  "  Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do 
good  on  the  sabbath  day.*"  ^  This  *'  wherefore " 
—  we  may  further  note  —  is  deduced  from  the  in- 
comparable value  of  a  man:  "How  much  more 
then  is  a  man  of  more  value  than  a  sheep ! "" 

"  It  is  not  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in  jncom- 

heaven,*"  says  Jesus,  "  that  one  of  these  little  ones  ^«f«^^^ 
/  .       value  Of 

should  perish."  ^     Jesus  was  the  first  to  recognize  a  human 

the  incomparable  value  of  every  human  soul.     The  *^" 
individualism   which   distinguishes  our  Christian 
civilization  is  a  consequence  of  his  teaching.     Per- 
sonality first  emerges  into  clear  light   when   we 

1  Matt.  xu.  12.  2  Matt,  xviii.  14. 


28  SECOND    WORD 

recognize  that  every  individual  soul  is  an  object 
of  the  heavenly  Father"'s  loving  care.  When  Jesus 
says,  "  What  doth  it  profit  a  man,  to  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  forfeit  his  life?''  he  does  not 
mean  to  emphasize  the  trivial  thought,  that  one 
cannot  enjoy  the  world  he  has  gained,  if  his  life 
be  ended  thereby.  His  emphasis  lies  rather  upon 
the  incomparable  value  of  a  human  soul,  and 
upon  the  glorious  potentiality  of  self-realization 
as  a  son  of  God  —  which  is  forfeited  by  this  paltry 
exchange.  Hence  the  awful  woe  which  he  pro- 
nounces against  whosoever  shall  cheat  out  of  his 
eternal  blessedness  one  human  soul.^  Hence,  too, 
the  terrible  severity  of  self-discipline  which  he 
enjoins  in  view  of  the  eternal  prize.^  Hence  the 
joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.^ 

He  who  shares  in  the  work  of  saving  souls  par- 
takes of  a  heavenly  joy.  Such  was  the  constant 
joy  of  Jesus  amidst  all  the  trials  of  his  ministry, 
and  the  unexpected  conversion  of  the  dying  thief 
afforded  him  surely  a  new  joy  in  his  passion. 

CHRIST  AS  JUDGE 

The  other  j^  jg  g^  comfortable  word  which  Jesus  addressed 
to  the  dying  thief.  But  beside  this  thought  there 
emerges  another  of  a  very  different  complexion. 

1  Matt,  xviii.  6,  7. 

2  Matt  xviii.  8,  9. 
^  Matt,  xviii.  1^14  ;  Luke  xv. 


cross 


SALVATION  AND  JUDGMENT      29 

We  have  to  remember  that  there  were  two 
crosses :  '"•  one  on  the  right  hand  and  the  other  on 
the  left.'"  There  was  a  beheving  thief,  but  there 
was  one  also  that  "  railed  on  him  '^ ;  and  to  the 
word  of  grace  on  the  one  hand  corresponds  the 
silence  of  doom  on  the  other. 

These  two  crosses  are  an  epitome  of  the  world.  Two 
There  are  innumerable  points  in  which  one  man  Z^i^l^^g 
may  differ  from  another  ;  but  fundamentally  there  of  the 
are  two  kinds  —  those  on  the  right  hand,  and 
those  on  the  left.  There  is  between  them  no  sure 
mark  of  distinction  which  men  can  trace ;  but  the 
difference  is  as  deep  as  life.  The  difference  awaits 
its  revelation  :  the  two  walk  side  by  side  in  the 
world,  a7id  each  alike  hears  his  cross  —  a  burden, 
we  are  prone  to  forget,  which  no  man  may  escape, 
though  he  may  forbear  to  choose  it ;  but  to  the 
one  it  is  the  gate  of  life,  to  the  other  the  mere 
instrument  of  death.  Between  them,  another 
cross  bears  the  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world  —  intended  for  all,  available  for  all, 
though  only  one  will  accept  it  and  the  other 
rails. 

What  stranger  paradox  can  there  be  than  that 
Jesus  hung  upon  the  Cross  at  once  as  Victim  and 
as  Judge  ?  He  came  to  save  the  world  ;  but  his 
very  coming  constituted  a  judgment.  St.  John 
says :  "  For  God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world 
to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  should 


30  SECOND    WORD 

be  saved  through  him.''  ^  Yet  Jesus  says  in  the 
same  Gospel :  "  ¥ov  judgment  am  I  come  into  the 
world."  ^  St.  John  himself,  however,  resolves 
the  contradiction  when  he  explains  :  "  And  this  is 
the  judgment,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world, 
and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light.''  ^  We 
loosely  say  that  light  makes  shadows  ;  whereas  in 
fact  it  makes  them  not,  but  breaks  up  the  one 
universal  shadow  of  darkness,  limiting  the  shadows 
which  it  defines,  and  really  lightening  by  reflec- 
tion where  it  seems  to  blacken  by  contrast. 
Light  is  beneficent  altogether  in  its  purpose  and 
use,  but  it  cannot  shine  in  the  world  without  re- 
vealing the  darkness.  That  is  St.  John's  thought. 
The  incarnate  Word  of  God  came  with  purpose 
all  beneficent ;  but  his  coming  could  not  but  in- 
volve a  test  of  hearts,  inasmuch  as  it  plainly  put 
before  men  the  choice  which  discovers  the  deepest 
depths  of  their  nature.  The  word  judgment  may 
be  used  in  either  of  two  senses  or  in  both.  It 
may  mean  the  process  of  discrimination  resulting 
in  division  and  segregation,  like  as  the  shepherd 
separateth  the  sheep  from  the  goats,  "  the  one  on 
the  right  hand  and  the  other  on  the  left " ;  or  it 
may  denote  the  decisive  verdict,  the  sentence  of 
condemnation  or  acquittal.  Judgment  is  the  first 
and  fundamental  function  of  kings,  and  Jesus 
claimed  it  in  its  whole  extent.  To  pronounce 
1  John  iii.  IT.  2  John  ix.  39.  3  John  iii.  19. 


SALVATION  AND  JUDGMENT      31 

condemnatory  judgment  was  not  his  purpose  in 
coming  into  the  world.  But  judgment  was  neces- 
sarily involved  in  his  coming ;  the  rejection  of  him 
in  some  sort  forestalls  the  verdict  of  the  last 
assize ;  and  even  here  definitive  sentence  must 
sometimes  be  pronounced. 

This  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  of  prophecy  ''A  stone 
which  Jesus  himself  cited  and  his  disciples  de-  %i^a'^~ 
veloped.  "  He  was  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a 
rock  of  offence,''  "  rejected  indeed  with  men,  but 
with  God  elect,  precious,  and  made  the  head 
stone  of  the  corner."  "  For  you  which  believe  is 
the  preciousness ;  but  for  such  as  disbelieve,  .  .  . 
they  shall  stumble  at  the  word."  ^  "  Every  one 
that  falleth  on  that  stone  shall  be  broken  to 
pieces ;  but  on  whomsoever  it  shall  fall,  it  will 
scatter  him  as  dust."^ 

At  the  Cross  was  fulfilled  the  prophetic  word 
of  Simeon  :  "  Behold,  this  child  is  set  for  the 
falling  and  rising  up  of  many  in  Israel ;  and 
for  a  sign  which  is  spoken  against ;  yea  and 
a  sword  shall  pierce  through  thine  own  soul ; 
that  the  thoughts  out  of  many  hearts  may 
be  revealed."  ^  Jesus  himself  said,  "  Happy  is 
he  who  shall  find  no  occasion  of  stumblino;  in 
me."' 


''4 


1  1    Pet.    ii.    4-8 ;    cf.    Isa.    viii.    14,    15  ;    xxviii.    16 ; 
Ps.  cxviii.  22. 

2  Luke  XX.  18.        3  Luke  ii.  34,  35.  *  Matt.  xi.  6. 


82  SECOND    WORD 

This  double  character  of  the  Cross  St.  Paul  also 
recognized:  "For  the  word  of  the  Cross  is  to 
them  that  are  perishing  foolishness ;  but  unto  us 
who  are  being  saved  it  is  the  power  of  God."^ 
Christ  hung  upon  the  Cross  at  once  as  Saviour 
and  as  Judge. 
Michael  We  read  that  double  office  in  Michael  Angelo's 

^Last  ^  *  picture  of  the  last  judgment.  The  general  theme 
Judgment  of  the  picture,  and  many  of  its  details,  were  fixed 
by  a  tradition  two  hundred  years  older  than  this 
painter,  and  the  whole  spirit  of  it  is  strange  and 
repellent  to  our  age.  But  there  is  truth  in  it, 
and  the  truth  is  told  with  consummate  power. 
It  is  the  amcijwd  Christ  who  comes  upon  the 
clouds  to  judgment,  and  the  hand  once  pierced 
for  the  salvation  of  men  is  stretched  forth 
with  a  gesture  —  we  are  at  a  loss  to  define 
what  the  gesture  is.  The  general  attitude  is 
one  which  may  be  traced  to  the  earliest  art 
of  the  Church.  Originally  it  represented  the 
Teacher  proclaiming  the  Gospel.  In  the  early 
Middle  Ages  it  was  interpreted  as  an  act  of 
blessing.  The  later  Middle  Ages  transformed 
it  into  a  judgment  of  condemnation.  But 
never  before  was  this  gesture  depicted  so  equivo- 
cally as  here :  it  represents  the  proclamation  of 
that  word  which  either  saves  or  judges,  accord- 
ing as  men  accept  or  reject   it ;    it   signifies   at 

1  1  Cor.  i.  18  ;  cf.  m  24,  25. 


SALVATION  AND  JUDGMENT      33 

once  blessing  and  ban ;  with  mysterious  power 
it  raises  up  to  heaven,  it  also  presses  down  to 
hell. 

Even  in  his  earthly  life  Jesus  inspired  wonder,  Fear  of 
awe,  and  fear.  Not  the  multitudes  only,  but  his  '^^^'^ 
most  intimate  companions,  were  frequently  aston- 
ished at  him  and  afraid.  This  impression  was 
due  first  of  all  to  the  miraculous  and  superhuman 
element  in  Jesus'  deeds.^  In  this  case  it  was  akin 
to  the  fear  of  ghosts  or  angelic  apparitions.^  But 
awe  and  fear  were  inspired  also  by  what  was  purely 
human  in  Jesus'  character  and  behavior,  especially 
by  the  authority  and  strangeness  of  his  teaching.^ 
In  the  Gospels  we  have  a  sufficient  clue  to  deter- 
mine what  it  was  in  Jesus'  teaching  which  so 
strangely  affected  the  hearers.  For  example,  the 
disciples,  poor  men  as  they  were,  were  thrown  into 
consternation  by  Jesus'  uncompromising  condemna- 
tion of  riches.*  When  he  began  to  hint  more  and 
more  plainly  of  his  approaching  death,  his  words 
proved  terrible  to  the  disciples,  and  they  feared  to 
question  him  farther.^  It  was  the  severe  and  un- 
worldly side  of  Jesus'  teaching  which   remained 

1  Mark  ii.  12  ;  iv.  41  ;  v.  15,  17,  33  ;  vi.  30  ;  vii.  37  ;  Luke 
V.  8 ;  vii.  16  ;  Matt.  xvii.  6. 

2  Matt  xiv.  26  sq. ;  Mark  xvi.  8 ;  Luke  ii.  9  sqq. 

3  Mark  i.  22  ;  xi.  18. 
*  Mark  x.  26. 

^  Mark  ix.  32  ;  x.  32. 

3 


S4  SECOND   WORD 

strange  and  terrible  to  his  own,  and  proved  repel- 
lent to  the  multitude.  This  trait  was  not  due  to 
any  harshness  of  disposition,  but  to  Jesus'*  percep- 
tion of  the  incomparable  majesty  of  God.  His 
exalted  idea  of  God  explains  that  uncompromising 
either  —  or  which  was  so  terribly  inconvenient 
to  his  hearers  :  either  serve  God  or  mammon  ;  ^ 
either  save  one's  life  or  lose  it ;  ^  either  confess 
Jesus  or  deny  him.^  This  trait,  which  determines 
the  whole  plan  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  is  not  pe- 
culiar to  St.  John ;  but,  as  we  see,  it  is  confirmed 
in  detail  by  the  Synoptists.  In  view  of  the 
exalted  sovereignty  of  God,  Christ  must  be  either 
Saviour  or  Judge,  according  to  the  attitude  of 
those  who  hear  him. 
Jesus  Jesus  was  ever  the  touchstone  for  the  trial  of 

Wrass^is  ^^^^^^ '->  ^ut  he  tried  them  never  so  infallibly  as 
the  touch-  when  he  hung  upon  the  Cross.  He  had  always 
alUiearts  accounted  men's  attitude  towards  him  the  ultimate 
test  of  character ;  but  never  had  the  test  cut  so 
surely  and  so  deep.  Many  had  followed  Jesus 
hitherto  with  false  hopes  of  an  earthly  king- 
dom :  now  they  must  recognize  perforce  that 
his  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  and  that  rule 
in  his  kingdom  is  exercised  through  service  and 
sacrifice. 

1  Matt.  vi.  24 ;  cf.  iv.  10. 

2  Mark  viii.  35  sqq. 

3  Matt.  X.  32  sqq. 


SALVATION  AND  JUDGMENT     35 

Christ  crucified  is  to-day  again  the  touchstone 
of  our  hearts.  Not  once  for  all,  but  day  by  day 
is  this  test  applied  —  so  hard  a  thing  it  is  to  be  a 
Christian  !  Each  new  choice  must  meet  this  test, 
and  Christ  be  either  our  Saviour  or  our  Judge. 

JESUS    REIGNS  FROM  THE    TREE  —  AND  THAT 
THRONE  IS  LIKEWISE  HIS  JUDGMENT  SEAT. 


THE  THIRD  WORD 
LOVE 

When  Jesus  therefore  saw  his  mother,  and  the  disciple 
standing  h/,  whom  he  loved,  he  saith  unto  his  mother, 

WOMAX,     BEHOLD,     THY    SoN  ! 

Then  saith  he  to  the  disciple. 

Behold,   thy  Mother  ! 

And  from  that  hour  the  disciple  took  her  unto  his  own  home. 

John  xix.  26,  27. 

Sine  me  non  valet,  nee  durabit  amicitia; 

Nee  est  vera  et  munda  dilectio  quam  ego  non  copulo. 

Thomas  a  Kempis. 

LOVE    OLD   AND   NEW 
Wh7/a       '\     y|r OTHER''    and    "son''  — both    these 

ZLT"'  V/I  '"""^''^^  ^^""^  ^""^^ '  together  they  de- 
mmt  ^  JL  ▼  JL  note  the  family,  the  home.  Love  is 
an  old  factor  in  human  life ;  it  was  "  from  the  be- 
ginning," before  all  human  beginnings  in  fact ; 
and  the  oldest  love  is  mother-love.  How  then 
can  Christ  proclaim  love  as  "a  new  command- 
ment "  ?  ^  Not  only  had  love  long  been  manifested 
in  all  the  family  relations,  but  it  had  long  ago 
1  John  xiii.  34. 


LOVE  37 

transcended  these  limits  and  made  itself  felt  in  a 
broader  social  sphere.  The  very  words  in  which 
Jesus  summarizes  the  Ten  Commandments,  and 
which  we  introduce  in  our  liturgy  so  emphatically 
as  that  which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  saith,  are  so 
far  from  being  new  that  they  are  cited  literally 
from  Deuteronomy  and  Leviticus.^ 

St.  John  noted  this  paradox,  and  in  his  Epistles  St.  John 
he  plays  upon  these  words  "  old ''  and  "  new."  In  '^^ladol' 
his  Second  Epistle  ^  he  says,  "  Not  as  though  I 
wrote  to  thee  a  new  commandment,  but  that  which 
we  had  from  the  beginning,  that  we  love  one 
another."  In  the  First  Epistle  ^  likewise  he  denies 
that  it  is  new,  yet  adds  at  once,  "  Again  a  new 
commandment  write  I  unto  you."  He  explains 
also  the  reason  of  its  newness,  though  in  figurative 
language  which  may  not  at  once  carry  its  meaning 
to  the  reader  :  "  because  the  darkness  is  passing 
away,  and  the  true  light  already  shineth."  This 
means  that  in  Christ  there  has  come  to  us,  and  is 
coming,  a  new  revelation  of  what  love  may  be  and 
is.  In  his  Gospel,  reporting  the  words  of  Jesus, 
St.  John  conveys  to  us  the  same  meaning  in  more 
specific  terms  :  "  A  new  commandment  give  I  unto 
you,  that  ye  love  one  another  ;  even  as  I  have  loved 
you^  that  ye  also  love  one  another."  *     This  com- 

1  Matt.  xxii.  37,  39 ;  Mark  xii.  30,  31  ;  cf.  Deut.  vi.  5  ; 
Lev.  xix.  18. 

2  2  John  5.  3  1  John  ii.  7,  8.  *  John  xiii.  34. 


38  THIRD    WORD 

mandment  of  Jesus  is  new  for  a  twofold  reason  : 
because  it  is  formulated  for  a  new  relationship,  the 
Christian  brotherhood  ;  and  because  it  is  enjoined 
according  to  a  new  measure,  "  as  I  have  loved 
you.''  Jesus  teaches  his  disciples  that  their  love, 
like  his,  must  transcend  the  limits  of  the  narrower 
human  relationships  to  which  it  had  been  con- 
fined, —  the  family,  the  clan,  or  even  race  and 
nationality,  —  and  find  its  sphere  in  a  universal  so- 
ciety. Yet  notwithstanding  this  increase  of  its 
objects  love  is  to  suffer  no  loss  of  its  intensity  ;  for 
the  constant  measure  of  Christian  love  is  Christ's 
love,  a  new  and  loftier  measure,  love  in  excelsis, 
—  for  "  greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that 
a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends."  ^ 

Christ  Thomas  a  Kempis  says  : 

makes  the 

old  rela-     a  Without  Me  friendship  is  not  firm  or  endurinff  : 

txons    sac-      -vt  t_ 

ramental       Nor  is  there  any  true  and  pure  love  which  I  do  not 

join." 

This  does  not  mean  that  where  we  see  love  we 
may  affirm  it  is  no  love  because  it  is  not  in  Christ. 
It  means  that  where  we  see  love  we  are  to  perceive 
a  gift  of  God.  And  it  means,  moreover,  that 
Christ  raises  to  a  higher  potentiality  even  the  old 
love  which  was  displayed  "from  the  beginning" 
in  the  sweet  offices  of  friendship  and  the  dear 
relationships  of  the  family.  Christ  recognized 
1  John  XV.  13. 


LOVE  39 

the  primitive  relationships  and  the  aboriginal  love 
which  cements  them  ;  he  recognized  fatherhood, 
motherhood,  filial,  fraternal,  and  conjugal  love: 
but  he  did  not  recognize  them  simply  as  they 
were,  and  leave  unchanged  the  constitutions  of 
old  time  —  he  hallowed  them,  and  raised  them 
to  the  dignity  of  a  sacrament,  perceiving  in 
them  an  outward  and  visible  reflection  of  divine 
relationships. 

Christ  recognized  the  family  and  the  family  Marriage 
love.  Marriage,  in  contradiction  to  all  ancient 
law  and  custom,  Christ  pronounced  indissoluble. 
Since  Christ  has  raised  all  the  commonest  human 
duties  to  a  sacramental  dignity,  we  may  properly 
say  that  the  marriage  blessed  by  him  becomes  a 
sacrament.  It  is  no  longer  constituted  by  the 
will  of  the  flesh,  in  carnal  appetite ;  but  under- 
taken with  the  resolute  purpose  of  performing 
together,  at  whatever  sacrifice,  a  social  duty  in 
the  rearing  of  children,  —  primarily  in  the  interest 
of  the  family,  but  ultimately  in  the  interest  of 
society  at  large,  the  State  and  the  Church. 

Christ  recognizes  the  family  love  in  all  its  varied  Family 
relations;  he  hallows  it  and  makes  it  new.     ^^^  law  of  the 
in  so  doing  he  also  breaks  its  exclusiveness.     This  kingdom 
new  wdne  cannot  be  kept  in  old  bottles ;  but  in 
breaking  the  bottles  Christ  provides  that  not  one 
drop  of  the  precious  liquor  shall  be  lost.     For  he 
provides  that  this  great  force  which  has  been  de- 


40  THIRD    WORD 

veloped  in  the  narrower  sphere  shall  henceforth  be 
available  for  the  broader  relationship  of  the  Chris- 
tian brotherhood,  the  family  of  God.  Love  is  not 
mere  liking,  and  its  limits  are  not  set  bv  mere 
kinship  or  likeness.  Love  is  also  something  more 
than  a  pathological  affection  :  in  its  highest  forms 
it  is  an  expression  of  the  will,  and  hence  it  may  be 
made  the  subject  of  a  commandment.  Such  love 
as  had  hitherto  been  confined  to  the  family,  Christ 
made  the  law  of  his  kingdom  :  hence  the  family 
becomes  the  pattern  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Jems'  rs-  It  is  instructive  to  inquire  what  was  Jesus'  re- 
his^own  lotion  to  his  own  family.  First  of  all  we  have 
family  the  incident  of  his  childhood  related  by  St.  Luke, 
when  he  seemed  entirely  forgetful  of  his  earthly 
parents,  who  were  seeking  him  for  three  days  and 
finally  found  him  in  the  temple.  There  was  a 
note  of  surprise  in  the  boy'^s  answer  to  his  mother'*s 
complaint :  "  How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me  ?  did 
you  not  know  that  I  must  be  in  my  Father's 
house  ?  '"'  ^  For  the  unique  Son  of  God,  and  for 
all  God's  sons,  there  are  loftier  obligations  than 
that  of  filial  obedience,  and  broader  social  duties 
than  those  of  the  family.  But  until  such  duties 
emerge,  the  family  is  the  natural  sphere  of  the 
child's  life.  And  so  it  is  said  that  he  returned 
to  Nazareth  with  his  parents  "and  was  subject 
unto  them." 

1  Luke  ii.  49. 


LOVE  41 

When  Jesus  began  his  public  ministry  he  broke 
off  all  relation  with  his  family  and  was  a  man 
without  a  home,  —  contrasting  himself  in  this 
respect  even  with  birds  and  foxes. ^  When  the 
early  popularity  of  his  preaching  was  past,  and 
the  clouds  of  opposition  became  ominous,  the 
family  authority  was  invoked-;  and  perhaps  there 
was  some  thought  of  using  force,  to  bring  him 
back  to  Nazareth  and  save  him  from  public 
disgrace.  Then  Jesus  publicly  repudiated  his 
family.  Being  told  that  his  mother  and  his 
brethren  were  outside  the  crowded  house  in  which 
he  was  teaching,  and  were  seeking  to  enter  and 
claim  him,  he  replied,  "Who  is  my  mother  and 
my  brethren  ?  And  looking  round  on  them 
which  sat  round  about  him,  he  saith,  Behold  my 
mother  and  my  brethren !  For  whosoever  shall 
do  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and 
sister,  and  mother."  ^  Jesus  taught  his  disciples 
that  upon  occasion  they  must  make  the  same 
renunciation ,3  and  a  certain  man  who  would  follow 
him  he  forbade  to  return  even  to  bury  his  father.* 
Jesus  was  already  forming  about  himself  a  new 
family  of  those  who  were  united  in  a  common  aim 
and  service. 

1  Matt  viii.  20  ;  Luke  ix.  58. 

=^  Matt.  xii.  48-50  ;  Mark  iii.  33-35. 

8  Matt.  X.  36,  37. 

*  Matt.  viii.  21,  22  ;  Luke  ix.  59,  60. 


42  THIRD    WORD 

The  Our  Lord's  brethren  did  not  come  to  believe 

of  Jesus  on  him  till  after  his  resurrection,  and  we  have  no 
notice  that  Mary  again  appeared  in  his  company 
till  her  mother-love  brought  her  to  the  foot  of 
his  Cross.  There  Jesus,  forgetful  of  himself,  was 
concerned  about  his  mother,  and  took  measures 
to  restore  the  family  life  which  he  had  broken  up 
and  to  fill  the  place  which  he  was  leaving.  Such 
was  his  regard  for  the  family. 

John  and  But  why  might  not  Mary  live  with  the  "  breth- 
"^^  ren"  of  Jesus,  who,  if  they  were  but  her  step- 
sons, were  bound  by  law  and  duty  to  support  her  ? 
That  formed  the  natural  family.  Jesus,  however, 
reckoned  that  the  ties  of  a  common  faith  and  a 
common  social  purpose  are  stronger  than  the  ties 
of  kindred.  "  And  from  that  hour  the  disciple 
took  her  unto  his  own  home.''''  The  word  home  is 
not  found  in  our  Greek  Gospel :  the  phrase  there 
is  simply  "  unto  his  own."  But  we  rightly  use  in 
this  place  our  strong  English  word;  for  where 
son  and  mother  are  is  home. 

Children         "  Mother  ""  and  "  son  "'  are  the  words  Jesus  uses 

by  adop-     —  ^^^  j  without  doubt  he  uses  them  in  no  weak 

tton 

and  unreal  sense  ;  they  denote  a  sacred  relation- 
ship (a  family)  which  is  established  by  mutual 
adoption.  Jesus  recognizes  the  family  and  he 
hallows  it.  But  he  recognizes  that  the  profound- 
est  sacredness  of  that  relation  is  constituted,  not 
according  to  the  law  of  fleshly  generation,  but 


LOVE  43 

according  to  the  Spirit,  by  the  will.  Do  you 
suppose  that  the  sweet  offices  of  motherhood  and 
sonship  were  ever  exercised  more  perfectly  than 
by  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Beloved  Disciple  ? 
God  may  not  give  to  every  one  of  us  children 
after  the  flesh,  or  he  may  take  them  away,  as 
from  that  mother  who  wept  by  the  Cross ;  but 
upon  every  lonely  heart  which  is  capable  of  the 
sacred  fire  of  mothei'hood  or  fatherhood  he  lays 
the  injunction  :  Behold,  thy  son !  Would  God 
there  were  no  mother  without  a  son  !  What  Jesus 
here  sets  before  us  is  a  privilege  as  well  as  a  duty. 
But  "  take  heed  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these 
little  ones " ;  "  inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto 
one  of  these  least,  ye  did  it  not  unto  me." 
There  are  in  this  world  so  many  lonely  mother 
hearts ;  and  in  this  same  world  so  many  sons 
without  a  mother,  —  little  ones  for  whom  Christ 
died,  for  whom  the  world  prepares  so  many 
stumbling-blocks.  There  need  be  no  mother 
without  a  son  folded  by  the  will  into  the  holy 
sacrament  of  motherhood,  sealed  by  the  com- 
mand of  Christ.  Would  God  there  were  no  son 
without  a  mother!  It  is  a  duty  which  Christ 
sets  before  us,  as  well  as  a  privilege. 

I  have  said  that  the  family  is  the  pattern  and  The  ah- 
norm    of  the    Church.     But  we  express   Christ's  ^f^thlr- 
meaning  better  when  we  say  with  St.  Paul  that  ^*oot^ 
the  heavenly  is  the  pattern  of  the  earthly,  and 


44  THIRD    WORD 

that  it  is  our  heavenly  "  Father  after  whom  every 
fatherhood  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  named.""  ^ 
It  is  from  him  we  have  "received  the  spirit  of 
adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father."' ^  All 
men  are  called  to  the  privilege  of  this  adoption, 
but  not  all  attain  to  it.  Jesus  himself  contrasts 
"  the  sons  of  this  age  "  with  those  that  "  are  ac- 
counted worthy  to  attain  to  that  age,'"'  who  "  are 
equal  to  the  angels,  and  are  sons  of  God,  being 
sons  of  the  resurrection."'*' ^  Sonship  implies  like- 
ness to  the  parent.  To  realize  our  likeness  to  the 
heavenly  Father  is  the  loftiest  human  achieve- 
ment :  it  demands  not  only  the  highest  love,  but 
the  broadest.  "But  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your 
enemies,  and  pray  for  them  that  persecute  you  ; 
that  ye  may  be  sons  of  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  :  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil 
and  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and 
the  unjust.  For  if  ye  love  them  that  love  you, 
what  reward  have  ye  ?  do  not  even  the  publicans 
the  same  ?  And  if  ye  salute  your  brethren  only, 
what  do  ye  more  than  others  ?  do  not  even  the 
Gentiles  the  same  ?  Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect, 
as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect.'''* 
"  The  We  may  take  it  that  in  his  third  word  from 

r^^"i         the  Cross  our  Lord  enforces  the  fundamental  law 
law 

in  the         of  his    kingdom.     There  can   be  no  doubt  that 

world 

1  Eph.  iii.  15.  2  Rom.  viii.  15. 

3  Luke  XX.  34-36.  *  Matt.  v.  44-4-8. 


LOVE  45 

Christendom  has  not  yet  realized  this  law.  We 
display  the  old  love,  to  our  friends  who  love  us, 
to  our  family  and  kindred ;  but  the  broader  love 
is  not  generally  manifested,  —  least  of  all  in  the 
broadest  relationships  of  political  and  commercial 
life.  But  if  we  ask  the  question,  whether  in  the 
broadest  relationships  of  life  competition  or  co- 
operation best  comports  with  the  law  of  the  king- 
dom, which  is  the  law  of  family  love,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  about  the  answer.  Competition  of 
a  sort,  a  generous  emulation  which  quickens  our 
best  talents  and  brings  into  play  our  most  abun- 
dant resources,  there  may  be  between  mother  and 
son  even,  between  brother  and  brother,  —  but  not 
for  bread.  But  the  law  of  love  will  not  work  in 
the  world,  men  say.  True,  it  will  not  woi'k  any 
man  a  temporal  advantage  so  long  as  self-interest 
is  a  stronger  and  a  commoner  motive  than  love. 
But  we  may  not  therefore  wait  till  all  men  shall 
have  agreed  together  to  act  only  according  to 
this  law ;  for  it  is  already  the  law  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Can  we  not  say  as  much  as  Plato  says 
at  the  end  of  his  sketch  of  an  ideal  republic? 
He  admits  the  objection  that  no  such  state  is  to 
be  found  on  earth.  But  he  replies,  "  In  heaven 
there  is  laid  up  a  pattern  of  such  a  city,  and  he 
who  desires  may  behold  this,  and  beholding,  gov- 
ern himself  accordingly.  But  whether  there  really 
is  or  ever  will  be  such  an  one  is  of  no  importance 


46  THIRD    WORD 

to  him  ;  for  he  will  act  according  to  the  laws  of 
that  city  and  of  no  other."  ^ 

Thy  kingdom  come,  O  Lord,  thy  kingdom  of 
love  and  brotherhood,  when  in  every  lonely  little 
one  the  lonely  mother  will  behold  a  son,  in  every 
weak  one  for  whom  Christ  died  a  man  will  behold 
his  brother,  —  on  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven. 

JESUS    REIGNS    FROM    THE    TREE  —  AND    HIS 
THIRD  WORD  PROCLAIMS  THE  ROYAL  LAW. 

1  Republic,  bk.  ix.  §  592. 


THE   FOURTH   WORD 

JOY   AND   SACRIFICE 

jind  about  the  ninth  hour  Jesus  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
saying,  Eli,  eli,  lama  sabachthani  ?  that  is.  My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsakex  me? 

Matt,  xxvii.  46.     Quoted  from  Ps.  xxii.  1. 
Cf.  Mark  xv.  34. 

THE  JOY  IN    PASSION 

j4  T  this  word  we  must  pause  as  before  the  in- 

/-\      comprehensible.     Incomprehensible  it  is 

X.    JL   to  us  that  the  Son  of  God  should  ever 

be  forced  to  utter  this  desolate  cry.     "  We  know 

but  the  outskirts  of  his  ways.**' 

But  let  us  fix  our  attention  upon  what  we  can  Dante 
understand.      And   here    let   me  suggest  to  jou  ^l^^^H^^^ 
a  profound   truth  which    Dante,   by   a   startling  ^^*'«  '^ord 
paradox,  associates  with  this  very  cry.     He  rep- 
resents  the   sufferings    of   purgatory   as    endured 
gladly  in  the  strength  of  that  desire  which  ap- 
prehends  beforehand   an    assured   blessedness,  — 
symbolized  here  by  the   Tree   of  Life.     So    the 
sufferers  say : 


48  FOURTH    WORD 

Che  quella  voglia  all'  arbore  ci  mena, 
Che  mend  Cristo  lieto  a  dire,  Ell, 
Quando  ne  liberd  con  la  sua  vena} 

"  Because  the  like  desire  leads  us  to  the  tree, 
Which  led  Christ  joyfully  to  cry,  Eli, 
What  time  he  freed  us  with  his  precious  blood." 

It  is  true  there  was  a  joy  in  the  very  Passion 
itself.  St.  John  perceived  it,  and  whoso  will  may 
read  it  in  his  record.  But  Dante  alone,  with  a 
poet's  insight,  has  detected  the  joy  of  Jesus  in 
this  agonizing  cry. 
Christ's  It  is  one  of  the  striking  characteristics  of  St. 

^cording  to  John's  Gospel  that  it  interprets  to  us  the  tri- 
St.  John  umphant  joy  with  which  Jesus  encountered  the 
ignominy  and  suffering  of  his  last  mortal  hours. 
St.  John  emphasizes  this  so  strongly  that  he 
seems  hardly  to  leave  room  for  the  veritable 
agony  of  mind  which  Jesus  experienced  at  the 
prospect  of  death,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
all  the  other  Gospels.  The  note  of  joy  runs 
through  our  Lord's  prayer,  and  the  long  discourses 
which  he  held  with  his  disciples  the  night  in 
which  he  was  betrayed.  St.  John  alone  has  re- 
ported them.  It  comes  to  clearest  expression 
when  he  says,  "  If  ye  loved  me,  ye  would  rejoice 
because  I   go   unto  my  Father."  ^     We   hear   it 

1  PurgatoriOi  canto  xxiii.  lines  73-75. 

2  John  xiv.  28. 


JOY  AND  SACRIFICE  49 

finally  even  from  the  Cross  in  a  word  ^\hich  John 
alone  has  recorded  :  "  It  is  finished.'"  ^  Through- 
out, it  is  the  joy  of  labor  accomplished,  of  duty 
done,  of  homesickness  for  the  Father"'s  house  re- 
lieved—  by  going  home. 

This  interpretation  of  St.  John''s,  peculiar  as  it  The  nos- 
is,  is  substantially  confirmed  by  the  other  Evan-  jj^  ^^ 
gelists.  For  though  the  Synoptic  Gospels  give 
no  hint  of  joy  in  their  story  of  the  Passion, 
they  plainly  reveal,  in  connection  with  an  earlier 
experience,  our  Lord''s  heavenly  homesickness. 
After  the  Transfiguration  upon  the  mountain, 
wherein  Jesus  as  well  as  his  three  closest  com- 
panions had  enjoyed  a  peculiarly  exalted  experi- 
ence, he  came  down  again  to  the  world  and  its 
sordid  cares,  and  straightway  encountered  faith- 
lessness and  impotence  even  in  his  disciples.  He 
could  not  restrain  then  the  exclamation :  "  O 
faithless  generation  !  how  long  shall  I  be  with 
you  ?  how  long  shall  I  bear  with  you  ? ""  ^  This 
instance  stands  alone,  yet  it  is  sufficient  to  cor- 
roborate the  essential  truth  of  St.  John\s  record. 
It  may  be  that  Jesus  never  again  so  plainly  ex- 
pressed his  longing  to  finish  his  task  and  be  at 
home.  Yet  the  sympathy  of  a  disciple  could 
detect  it,  and  what  St.  John  has  written  for  our 
learning  is  true  to  the  deepest  fact. 

1  John  xix.  30. 

2  Mark  ix.  19  ;  Matt.  xvii.  17  ;  Luke  ix.  41. 

4 


50  FOURTH    WORD 

The  first  three  Evangelists  are  concordant  and 
consistent  in  representing  that  our  Lord  experi- 
enced up  to  the  end  a  natural  human  shrinking 
at  the  thought  of  dying.  They  show,  however, 
that  he  entertained  this  thought,  and  faced  the 
prospect  even  of  a  violent  and  suffering  death, 
from  an  early  period  of  his  ministry ;  and  it  was 
immediately  after  the  Transficruration  that  he 
began  to  prepare  his  disciples  for  it.  But  death 
is  one  thing,  dying  is  another.  In  view  of  Jesus' 
nostalgia  for  the  heavenly  home,  death  could  ap- 
pear only  as  a  release  ;  and  in  the  strength  of  this 
longing  the  dread  of  dying  was  half  overcome. 
So  our  Lord's  endurance  of  death  is  interpreted  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  when  it  is  said  that 
Jesus  ''for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him  en- 
dured the  Cross,  despising  the  shame.''  ^ 
Dante's  Such  is  precisely  the  meaning  of  Dante's  phrase, 

meaning  ^^^^ji^  vogUa  —  '*  that  desire."  There  is  noth- 
ing new  nor  strange  about  his  conception  of  the 
joy  which  shone  through  Jesus'  suffering,  except 
that  he  discovers  it  in  this  very  word  EVi ! 
Certain  it  is  that  the  mere  exifjencies  of  rhyme 
do  not  account  for  Dante's  use  of  this  unusual 
word  ;  nor  did  he  hit  upon  so  strange  a  thought 
by  any  accident.  He  means  somethincr,  —  as  vou 
will  be  disposed  to  credit  if  you  believe,  as  I  do, 
that  the  true  poets  are  the  greatest  teachers,  by 

1  Heb.  xii.  2. 


JOY  AND  SACRIFICE  51 

virtue  of  a  deeper  insight  into  human  Hfe.  Our 
Lord  himself  was  a  poet  of  the  Hebrew  sort,  and 
the  greatest  "  maker ''  of  them  all.  The  word 
"  poet "  means  maker ;  and  the  poet  is  so  called, 
not  because  he  makes  verses,  but  because  he  creates 
thoughts  and  gives  them  a  vehicle  which  carries 
them  to  all  men.  Where  the  genius  of  Dante 
leads  the  way  we  also  may  follow  and  apprehend 
the  significance  of  his  discovery. 

I  make,  therefore,  this  scholium  upon  his  verse.  The  word 
In  the  first  place,  we  must  note  that  Dante  dis- 
tinguishes.  He  does  not  affirm  that  there  is  any 
gladness  in  the  cry,  "  Why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me.?"  He  finds  it  in  the  word  Eh — twice 
uttered,  and  emphasized  as  it  is.  It  is  true  that 
this  whole  saying  is  a  literal  quotation  from  the 
Psalter.  But  to  learn  what  Jesus  means  by  it, 
we  do  not  need  to  inquire  first  what  the  Psalmist 
meant.  For  the  old  Scriptures  which  Jesus  takes 
upon  his  lips  acquire  from  him  a  new  meaning. 
And  here,  in  particular,  we  shall  discover,  the 
common  name  of  Deity  is  freighted  with  an 
expression  of  the  inmost  secret  of  Jesus'*  self- 
consciousness. 

Something  strange  there  must  have  been  in 
Jesus'*  enunciation  of  this  word  EVi}  for  the 
people  understood  him  to  be  calling  upon  Elijah. 

1  For  the  original  form  of  the  utterance  see  Dal  man,  Die 
Worte  Jesu,  pp.  42,  43. 


52  FOURTH    WORD 

It  is  true  that  in  our  Lord's  time  the  divine  name, 

even  in  this  its  most  generic  form,  was  not  uttered 

except  in  worship  or  in  formal  quotations  from  the 

Scripture.     Jesus  himself  seems  to  have  conformed 

to  this  practice.     There  may  have  been  something 

startling,  therefore,  in  hearing  God"'s  name  twice 

shouted  from  the  Cross ;  but,  in  worship,  at  least, 

this  name   was  by  no    means   unfamiliar   to  the 

Jews,  and  the   rarity   of  its  utterance  does  not 

explain  their  misunderstanding.     What,  however, 

if  our  Lord  wreaked  upon  the  expression  of  this 

well-known  name  the  whole  energy  of  that  conflict 

of  joy  and  agony  which  was  within  him,  giving  it 

utterance  and  accent  such  as  had  never  been  heard 

before,  —  would    not    that    explain    the   people's 

bewilderment  ? 

''My  But  before  we  can  understand  this  point,  our 

God "  .  .  r         ' 

own  mispronunciation   of  the   word  needs  to  be 

corrected.  It  is  true,  I  think,  that  in  defiance  of 
all  authority,  —  even  the  handy  authority  of  our 
"  Teachers'  Bibles,*"  —  we  commonly  pronounce 
it,  Eli^  Eli  —  my  God^  my  God.  So  accenting  the 
phrase,  we  are  left  without  any  clue  to  the  mis- 
understanding of  the  Jews,  and  without  any  hint 
of  a  joy  in  Jesus'  passion.  But  if  we  pronounce 
the  word  as  Dante  rightly  did,  EVi^  and  recognize 
that  the  whole  stress  falls  upon  the  personal  pro- 
noun mz/,  which  here  appears  as  a  suffix  to  the 
divine  name  El^  we  can  understand,  I  think,  how 


JOY  AND  SACRIFICE  53 

Jesus  may  have  thrown  such  an  intensity  of  feel- 
ing into  his  utterance  as  to  transform  the  word, 
and  we  can  perceive  that  such  an  intense  personal 
appropriation  of  God  —  my  God,  viy  God  — 
is  incompatible  with  utter  defeat  and  complete 
desolation. 

This  interpretation  might  well  appear  fanciful,  "  The 
were  it  not  that  we  can  appeal  to  another  passage  ^^^  Y 
of  Old  Testament  Scripture  which  Jesus  himself  Aam " 
expressly  interprets  for  us,  and  interprets  precisely 
in  this  way.  When  the  Sadducees  sought  to 
entangle  him  with  sophistical  questions  about  the 
future  life,  Jesus  promptly  solved  their  super- 
ficial problem  by  the  simplest  answ^er ;  but,  not 
resting  upon  that,  he  offered  bread  to  those  that 
asked  for  chaff.  So  he  continued,  probing  to  the 
very  heart  of  the  question :  "  But  as  touching 
the  dead,  that  they  are  raised ;  have  ye  not  read 
in  the  book  of  Moses,  in  the  place  concerning  the 
Bush,  how  God  spake  unto  him,  saying,  /  am  the 
God  of  Abraham^  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
God  of  Jacob  ?  He  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead, 
but  of  the  living  :  ye  do  greatly  err."  ^  This  pas- 
sage had  never  been  used  before  as  a  proof  of  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead.  We  may  expect  to 
find  in  Jesus'*  interpretation  something  strikingly 
characteristic  of  his  method  of  teaching.  We 
certainly  do  not  reach  the  height  of  its  meaning 

1  Mark  xii.  26,  27  ;  cf.  Matt.  xxii.  32  ;  Luke  xx.  37,  38. 


54  FOURTH   WORD 

if  we  rest  satisfied  with  the  common  explanation, 
which  gathers,  from  the  mere  circumstance  that 
God  calls  himself  the  God  of  the  Patriarchs,  the 
proof  that  they  continue  to  exist,  —  because  no 
such  relation  could  subsist  between  God  and  non- 
existent beings.  This  does  not  suffice.  For  life, 
as  Jesus  conceived  of  it,  is  not  the  mere  prolonga- 
tion of  existence,  though  it  w^ere  prolonged  for- 
ever ;  for  him,  life  is  a  certain  so7't  of  existence, 
an  existence  which  consists  essentially  in  the  en- 
joyment of  fellowship  with  God.  That  this  con- 
ception explains  our  Lord's  thought  here,  will  be 
made  evident  if  we  consider  why  he  fixed  upon 
this  text.  The  mere  wording  of  it  does  not  sug- 
gest the  thought  of  eternal  life ;  it  expresses 
merely  the  assurance  that  what  God  was  to  the 
fathers,  that  he  will  be  to  their  children.  If  Jesus 
finds  more  in  it  than  this,  that  more  must  have 
been  furnished  by  his  own  religious  consciousness, 
which  everywhere  determines  for  him  his  under- 
standing of  the  Scriptures.  The  central  fact  in 
Jesus'  consciousness  was  the  experience  of  an  in- 
comparably close  relation  to  God,  —  a  transcend- 
ent relation,  which  was  absolutely  independent  of 
all  earthly  conditions,  and  in  which  he  was  assured 
of  participation  in  the  divine  life.  If  this  personal 
relation  to  God  was  not  brought  about  by  earthly 
conditions,  neither  could  it  be  dissolved  by  them  ; 
if  it  was  a  participation  of  the  supernatural  life 


JOY  AND  SACRIFICE  55 

of  God,  it,  too,  must  be  supernatural  and  endless. 
It  is  generally  recognized  that  the  absolute  neces- 
sity and  certainty  of  "eternar'  life  was,  for  Jesus, 
an  inevitable  deduction  from  his  consciousness  of 
sonship.  Because  he  knew  God  as  his  God,  and 
recognized  that  his  inmost  life  was  a  participation 
of  God's  life  and  being,  he  was  assured  that  this 
life  was  indissoluble.  That  is  precisely  what  he 
finds  reflected  in  the  expression  "  God  of  Abra- 
ham,"" and  what  he  says  with  reference  to  this  is 
merely  a  generalization  of  the  fact  which  he  recog- 
nized as  the  paramount  experience  of  his  own  life. 
It  is  from  his  own  consciousness  he  judges  this 
passage,  from  his  own  consciousness  he  draws  the 
consequences  which  are  implied  in  the  fact  that 
God  is  some  body''s  God.^ 

This  consciousness,  in  which  Jesus  discovered 
the  meaning  of  "eternal""  life,  the  consciousness 
of  personal  possession  of  God,  —  this  consciousness 
it  was  to  which  Jesus  gave  expression  upon  the 
Cross,  triumphing  even  in  the  moment  of  his 
direst  desolation,  when  he  cried,  "  M^  God !  m7/ 
God!" 

SACRIFICE 

Nevertheless    it    was   half  a  despairing   cry  —  The  an- 
"Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?''     It  is  in  vain^i""-^ 

1  This  paragraph  I  owe  substantially  to  Haupt,  Die  es~ 
chatologischen  Aussagen  Jesu,  p.  87. 


56 


FOURTH    WORD 


Addi- 
tional 
pang  in 
the  death 
of  the 
Christ 


Christian 
theology 


we  seek  to  banish  the  note  of  spiritual  anguish 
from  this  cry :  we  might  as  easily  ignore  the 
physical  anguish  of  the  Cross.  Success  here  would 
be  not  gain  but  loss.  We  find  a  deep  significance 
in  the  fact  that  Jesus  tasted  death  for  every  man  ; 
but  he  tasted  it  not  if  so  be  he  contemplated  it 
undismayed  and  drank  its  bitterest  dregs  with 
confidence  unshaken.  Rather  may  we  say,  in  view 
particularly  of  this  cry,  that  Christ's  death  was 
hardly  a  Christian  death.  The  calmness  of 
Christian  death  was,  indeed,  not  possible  till  after 
Chrisfs  resurrection. 

There  is  an  additional  factor  in  Jesus'  fear  of 
death,  which  I  forbore  to  mention  when  speaking 
of  the  natural  shrinking  from  dying.  There  is 
one  reason  why  death,  to  Jesus,  was  a  sorer  trial 
than  to  other  men  :  that  is,  because  of  the  very 
consciousness  he  had  of  being  the  Christ.  Death 
is  the  common  lot  of  men  ;  but  that  the  Christ 
should  die  —  die,  and  his  kingdom  not  yet 
established  —  what  can  be  the  meaning  of  that  ? 
With  this  problem  above  all  others  Jesus  had 
to  wrestle,  from  the  moment  he  first  perceived 
that  a  violent  death  at  the  hands  of  his  country- 
men lay  squarely  in  the  path  of  his  duty,  and  not 
far  off. 

When  we  think  of  Jesus  and  his  death,  we  too 
are  compelled  to  face  that  problem,  and  it  be- 
comes in  us  the  spur  of  all  legitimate  Christian 


JOY  AND  SACRIFICE  57 

theology.  Once  recognize  the  reahty  of  Jesus"* 
divinity,  and  we  are  face  to  face  with  the  question, 
Cur  Deus  homo  ?  —  why  was  God  man  ?  We 
recognize  the  full  reality  of  his  suffering  death, 
and  inevitably  the  question  arises,  Why  should 
the  Christ  die  ?  In  other  ways,  surely,  like 
Enoch  or  Elijah,  he  might  have  departed  from 
the  world.  So  long  as  these  questions  are  asked, 
just  so  long  shall  we  feel  impelled  to  formulate  a 
Christian  theology ;  so  long  as  our  answer  is 
inadequate,  our  theology  must  be  incomplete. 
Our  theology  is  incomplete :  let  it  be  so,  and  let 
us  know  it.  The  acknowledgment  of  God  in 
Christ  is  the  crowning  achievement  of  faith. 
Beyond  that  we  probe  with  our  questions,  but 
we  expect  in  vain  the  conclusive  answer.  Well 
it  is  for  us  that  we  can  stand  upon  this  at- 
tainment. It  is  an  attainment,  however,  which 
is  not  reached  once  for  all  by  the  Church 
as  a  whole,  needing  only  to  be  passed  on 
as  a  deposit  of  faith  to  successive  generations. 
It  is  an  attainment  new  in  every  age  and  to 
every  individual  disciple.  Peter,  the  basic  rock, 
and  after  him  every  "  living  stone '"'  which  is 
built  into  the  fabric  of  the  Church,  makes  con- 
fession of  a  truth  which  he  has  not  received 
from  without,  but  apprehended  as  the  personal 
acquist  of  a  moral  experience.  "  No  one  can  say, 
Jesus    is  Lord,  but    by  the    Holy  Ghost.'**     The 


58  FOURTH   WORD 

dogmatist  really  depreciates  the  value  of  this 
confession  when  he  makes  it  a  means  to  an  end, 
treating  it  as  an  inexhaustible  premise  for  the 
deduction  of  endless  syllogisms,  seeking  thereby 
to  solve  all  questions  in  the  world  and  out  of  it. 
From  the  height  of  this  attainment  we  can  look 
back  upon  many  a  question  solved ;  but  there  are 
still  more  questions  to  face,  unsolved  and  insolu- 
ble. Nevertheless  we  essay  to  solve  them,  and 
our  success  —  is  the  distraction  of  Christendom 
into  a  hundred  sects  ! 

The  ele-  To-day  we  are  inclined  to  be  less  bold.    We  are 

ment  of  •  •    i.   i  j.      x?    •  j. 

wonder  in  gi'O^^ing  as  intolerant  oi    irreverent  assurance  as 

our  faith    ever  the  dogmatists  were  of  reverent  doubt.     We 

are  learning  again  that  human  knowledge  begins 

in   wonder   and  issues    in  —  wonder.     We    dwell 

again  with  interest  upon  a  saying  long  plausibly 

ascribed  to  Jesus  (and  revived  now  by  a  discovery 

of  the  past  year)  :  "Let  not  him  who  seeks  [eternal 

life  .f^]  cease   till  he  finds  ;  and  when  he  finds  he 

shall  be  astonished  ;  astonished,  he  shall  reach  the 

kingdom  ;   and  having  reached  the  kingdom,  he 

shall  rest.^'i 

Sacrifice         Such    thoughts    of   the    inadequacy  of  human 

tdanation  knowledge  and  the  impotence  of  the  human  un- 

of  Chrisfs  derstaiiding  are  never  so  much  in  place  as  when 

we  contemplate  the  Cross  of  Christ.     Yet  one  so- 

1  Second  Oxyrhynchus  Fragment  of  the  Sayings  of  Jesus, 
V.  1  ;  cf.  Clement  Alex.,  Stromata,  v.  14  :  96. 


JOY  AND  SACRIFICE  59 

lution  there  is  of  this  mystery  which  we  cannot 
ignore,  since  in  it  Jesus  himself  found  solace :  it 
is  the  thought  of  sacrifice. 

Let  us  not  think,  however,  that  the  idea  oi  Meaninq 
sacrifice  is  a  solution  which  banishes  all  mystery.  ^J^^^^^J''^^ 
To  say  that  Christ's  death  was  a  sacrifice,  is  not 
to  define  it  in  terms  open  and  comprehensible  to 
the  human  mind :  it  is  merely  to  put  a  symbol  in 
the  place  of  mystery.  Sacrifice  is  the  most  ancient 
symbol  of  man's  longing  for  reconciliation  with 
God,  — of  his  recognition  that  a  barrier  exists,  and 
of  his  belief  that  it  can  be  removed.  This  earth 
furnishes  us,  through  all  the  scales  of  being,  with 
the  stupendous  mystery  of  life  poured  out  for  the 
life  of  others.  Countless  hecatombs  of  unwillmg 
sacrifices  attend  the  progress  of  the  lower  animals, 
and  even  here  among  the  brutes  mother-love 
provides  the  willing  sacrifice.  The  perception  of 
this  fact  is  the  root  of  all  blood-sacrifice  as  men 
have  practised  it,  and  of  all  its  ritual  symbolism. 
Whatever  of  childish  credulity  there  was  in  the 
early  notions  of  sacrifice,  whatever  crudity  or 
cruelty  in  the  early  cults,  dishonoring  to  God  and 
debasing  to  men,  —  all  this  was  forever  done 
away  by  the  great  prophets  who  made  the  notion 
of  moral  sacrifice  a  commonplace  in  Israel.  The 
moral  sacrifice  is  a  freewill  offering,  not  of  another 
life  for  our  own,  but  of  our  pleasure,  profit,  ad- 
vantage of  every  sort,  and  of  life  itself  even,  for 


60  FOURTH   WORD 

the  life  of  another.  We  speak  only  of  what  we 
see  in  the  actual  relations  of  human  life,  not  of 
what  we  guess  about  God,  when  we  say  that  such 
sacrifice  as  this  is,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the 
word,  vicarious.  Such  social  sacrifice,  offered  as 
unto  God  in  the  performance  of  our  bounden 
duty  and  service,  is,  according  to  the  Hebrew 
prophets,  the  reality^  of  which  all  ritual  sacrifice 
is  but  the  symbol.  This  theme  was  especially 
prominent  in  those  books  which  were  the  favorite 
Scriptures  of  our  Lord,  —  in  the  prophecies  of 
Isaiah  and  in  the  Psalms.  No  other  notion  than 
this  could  have  occurred  to  him  when  he  was  led 
to  interpret  his  death  as  a  sacrifice.  It  is  true 
that  the  old  forms  of  sacrifice  still  remained,  but 
they  remained  simply  as  a  symbol  of  a  newly 
apprehended  reality.  Yet  this  reality  itself  be- 
comes in  turn  a  symbol  of  the  incomprehensible 
when  we  endeavor  to  apprehend  what  may  be  its 
significance  in  relation  to  God. 
Signifi-  All  sacrifice  implies  two  parties  and  a  victim. 

Christ's  The  end  sought  is  atonement  —  that  both  may  be 
sacrifice  ^^  qj^^^  ^  ^lew  element  emerges  in  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  inasmuch  as  God  himself  takes  a  hand  in 
it  —  not  merely  to  receive,  but  to  offer.^  Here 
the  double  character  of  sacrifice  becomes  more 
evident :  it  contemplates  an  effect  upon  God,  and 
also  upon  men.     The  barrier  which   divides  has 

1  Rom.  viii.  32. 


JOY  AND  SACRIFICE  61 

two  aspects :  on  one  side  is  God's  unwillingness  to 
tolerate  sin  ;  on  the  other,  man''s  hard  unwilling- 
ness to  repent. 

The  effect  of  Chrisfs  sacrifice  upon  man''s  side 
is  perfectly  open  and  comprehensible  to  the  human 
understanding.  So  long  as  we  imagine  a  justly 
severe  God  awaiting  in  cold  aloofness  our  dutiful 
return,  we  find  in  our  hearts  no  place  for  re- 
pentance, though  we  may  know  the  anguish  of 
remorse.  But  when  we  know  the  revealed  mystery 
of  a  Father  who  suffers  in  our  fault,  and  is  ready 
to  meet  more  than  half-way  our  return  ;  when  we 
believe  that  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself,''"'  ^  —  then  we  have  found  a 
solvent  for  the  hardest  hearts,  the  specific  cure 
for  impenitence. 

But  the  effect  of  sacrifice  upon  God  remains 
perfectly  incomprehensible.  This  aspect  of  sacri- 
fice is  expressed  by  the  word  "  propitiation."'  ^ 
But  for  us  to  accept  this  word  in  its  literal  inter- 
pretation, with  all  the  crude  original  rudiments  of 
the  times  of  man's  ignorance  of  God  (as  though 
it  signified  that  a  loving  son  must  placate  by  his 
death  the  wrath  of  a  too  just  father),  would  be  a 
more  horrible  ineptitude  than  were  we  to  take  in  a 
literal  sense  the  words  " ransom''  and  "redemp- 
tion "  —  terms  similarly  applied  to  Christ's  death 

1  2  Cor.  V.  19  ;  cf.  vv.  18,  20 ;  also  Rom.  v.  10. 

2  1  John  ii.  2 ;  iv.  10. 


62 


FOURTH    WORD 


As  inter- 
preted hy 
the  Last 
Supper 


—  as  though  they  must  signify  to  us  that  for  the 
release  of  a  captive  from  his  conqueror,  of  a  slave 
from  his  oppressor,  Christ's  blood  was  the  price 
paid  —  to  the  Devil !  All  that  we  can  surely 
know  about  this  aspect  of  the  mystery  of  Chrisfs 
death  is  what  we  profess  in  the  Creed,  that  it 
was  ^'for  lis ''  ;  —  that  as  "  he  came  down 
from  heaven  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation,*" 
so  also  what  he  suffered  in  death  "  he  suffered 
jor  us. 

So  much  is  revealed  by  Christ  himself —  and  no 
These  are  the  very  words  in  which  he  ex- 


more. 


plained  to  his  disciples,  so  far  as  it  was  explicable, 
the  mystery  of  his  death.  St.  Paul  and  three  of 
the  Evangelists  differ  not  a  little  in  reporting  the 
words  which  Jesus  uttered  at  the  Last  Supper  ; 
but  about  these  words  of  central  importance  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  To  appreciate  justly  this  oc- 
casion and  the  force  of  these  words  we  must 
understand  that  what  we  now  perform  as  the  sac- 
ramental memorial  of  Jesus'  death  was  first  per- 
formed by  Mm  as  a  prophetic  parable  of  his  death 
impending  —  so  closely  impending  that  he  could 
represent  it  as  already  accomplished.  He  who 
taught  always  by  parables,  here  taught,  by  a  par- 
able in  act^  a  truth  so  solemn  that  it  hardly 
admitted  of  expression  in  speech.  The  dumb 
parable  of  the  broken  loaf  needed  only  one  inter- 
preting word,  "  my  body,"" —  and  Jesus'  imminent 


JOY  AND   SACRIFICE  6S 

death  stood  revealed.  The  wine  poured  out  is 
"  my  blood  '"  —  and  with  that  the  whole  sad  truth 
is  told.  But  with  one  more  word  Jesus  lightens 
the  gloom  —  it  is  "  for  you."  Not  in  vain  is  the 
Christ's  blood  spilled  —  but  "  for  you."  Hence 
it  is  that  the  disciples  are  to  "  eat "  and  "  drink  *" 
—  that  is,  appropriate  this  sign  and  know  it  as 
theirs.^ 

When  Jesus  said,  "  this  is  my  blood,"  and  "  for 
you,"  it  makes  little  difference  whether  he  did  or 
did  not  then  expressly  interpret  it  as  the  blood 
"  of  the  covenant "  ;  for  if  it  was  to  be  regarded 
as  a  sacrifice  at  all,  it  must  of  course  be  viewed 
somehow  in  the  light  of  the  ancient  covenant 
sacrifices  of  Israel. 

If  already  in  that  hour  Jesus  disclosed  to  his 
disciples  that  this  blood  was  shed  "  for  many,"  as 
some  of  the  Evangelists  affirm,^  it  is,  at  any  rate, 
certain  that  what  lay  nearest  to  their  compre- 
hension and  was  uppermost  in  his  heart  was  the 
thought  that  he  was  dying  for  them.  Afterwards 
they  could  understand  the  broader  thought ;  and 
as  the  circle  of  Jesus"*  friends  grew,  his  disciples 
learned  to  confess  :  "  He  is  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins,  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the 
whole  world."  ^ 

1  Mark  xiv.  29,  94  ;  Luke  xxii.  20. 

2  Matt.  xxvi.  98 ;  Mark  xiv.  94. 

3  1  John  ii.  2. 


64  FOURTH   WORD 

Joy  in  It  was  in  this   thought  Jesus  found  a  second 

sacrifice  .        „       .        .  .  ,  •     i  • 

•'         occasion  tor  joy  in  passion,  —  not  now  in  his  own 

behalf,  as  one  confident  of  hfe  in  spite  of  death, 
and  eager  for  return  to  the  Father's  house  even 
through  death ;  but  now  dying  itself  is  illumi- 
nated by  a  purpose,  being  endured  in  behalf  of 
his  friends.  It  was  strange,  indeed  horrible,  that 
the  Anointed  of  God  should  die ;  yet,  dying,  he 
knew  that  God  was  able  to  establish  the  king- 
dom. He  had  labored  to  prepare  for  it,  but  he 
had  recognized  from  the  beginning  that  it  was 
not  by  human  effort,  and  not  even  by  the  preach- 
ing or  wisdom  or  might  of  the  Messiah  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  could  be  established,  but  only 
by  a  conspicuous  divine  intervention.  And  he 
knew  that  in  this  kingdom,  when  it  should  be 
established,  the  Father  was  able  to  raise  him  to 
kingly  glory  and  dominion,  even  through  death. 
The  violent  death,  to  which  he  was  shut  up  by 
no  physical  necessity,  which  also  he  did  not  seek 
wantonly,  but  encountered  inevitable  in  the  path 
of  duty,  he  recognized  as  the  Father''s  will  for 
him.  He  was  assured  therefore  that  God  would 
accept  his  bounden  duty  and  service,  and,  accept- 
ing him,  would,  for  his  willing  sacrifice,  accept 
also  his  friends.  We  may  well  believe  that  this 
thought  assuaged  even  the  poignant  anguish  of 
the  cry,  "  Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ? ""  "  Hav- 
ing loved  his  own  which  were  in  the  world,  he 


JOY  AND  SACRIFICE  65 

loved  them  unto  the  end";  wilKngly  he  gave 
himself  for  them,  and  he  gave  himself  unto  the 
uttermost. 

JESUS  REIGNS  FROM  THE  TREE  -  AND  AS 
PRIEST-KING  HE  MAKES  THERE  A  FULL, 
PERFECT,  AND  SUFFICIENT  SACRIFICE,  OB- 
LATION, AND  SATISFACTION  FOR  THE  SINS 
OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


THE  FIFTH   WORD 

CONFIRMATION 

After  this  Jesus,  knowing  that  all  things  are  now  finished, 
that  the  Scripture  might  be  accomplished,  saith :   I  thirst. 

John  xix.  28.     Cf.  Ps.  Ixix.  21. 

THE   SCRIPTURES    CONFIRMED   BY 
THE   CROSS 

Christ's       T"  T  is  a  homely  woe  that  is  expressed  by  this  word 


I 


sufferings      ■     fj-Qm  the  Cross,  which  St.  John  alone  records. 

not  dwelt       ■  .... 

upon  as      -JIL    Such  suffering  as  this  indicates,  even  we  can 

sujj-ering  xixxdiQv^isindi,  who  know  not  what  it  is  to  die. 
Yet  even  upon  this  suffering  St.  John  does  not 
dwell  —  and  why  should  we  ?  All  the  Evangel- 
ists, and  St.  John  especially,  give  to  the  story  of 
Jesus'*  death  a  place  wholly  out  of  proportion  to 
their  brief  account  of  his  life  and  ministry.  This 
is  proof  of  the  high  importance  which  the  Apos- 
tolic Church  attached  to  the  Cross.  It  is  there- 
fore the  more  noteworthy  that  all  the  Evangelists, 
and  especially  St.  John,  refrain  from  any  mention 
of  suffering  merely  as  sitffering — it  had  a  higher 
significance  for  them. 


CONFIRMATION  67 

Here  St.  John  mentions  the  cry  of  thirst  only  The 
to  note  that  its  consequence,  the  giving  of  vinegar  Z.^^?^ 
(which  the  other  Evangehsts  also  record),^  was  a  from 
fulfilment  of  Scripture.^  He  found  the  same  sig-  '^'^  ^^ 
nilicance  in  the  fact  that  the  soldiers  cast  lots  for 
Jesus'  cloak .^  These  are  superficial  coincidences  ; 
there  is  deeper  meaning  in  the  fact  that  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  true  Paschal  Lamb  was  performed  ac- 
cording to  the  prescription  of  the  ancient  ritual 
—  "  not  a  bone  of  it  shall  be  broken.''''  ^  There  is 
a  mere  verbal  correspondence  again  in  the  pierc- 
ing of  our  Lord''s  side ;  ^  but  in  the  water  and  the 
blood  which  flowed  therefrom^  St.  John  discov- 
ered a  profound  emblem  of  the  mission  of  the 
Messiah.  How  important  this  was  in  his  regard, 
we  see  not  only  in  the  strong  asseveration  of  verse 
thirty-five,  but  in  the  fact  that  he  recurs  to  it 
again  in  his  First  Epistle.^  It  was  emblematical 
of  the  fact  that  Jesus  came,  not  like  the  Baptist, 
with  only  a  preparatory  purification  by  water, 
but  as  the  Messiah,  "  with  the  water  and  with  the 
blood.""  When  St.  John  expressly  notes  the  ful- 
filment of  Zechariah's  prophecy,  "  They  shall  look 

1  Matt,  xxvii.  48  ;  Mark  xv.  36  ;  Luke  xxiii.  36. 

2  Psalm  Ixix.  21. 

3  John  xix.  23,  24  ;  Ps.  xxii.  18. 
*  John  xix.  36  ;  Ex.  xii.  46. 

5  John  xix.  34,  37  ;  Zech.  xii.  10. 

6  John  xix.  34,  35. 

7  1  John  V.  6-9. 


68  FIFTH    WORD 

on  him  whom  they  pierced,"  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  he  had  in  mind  the  passage  which  immediately 
follows  it :  "  In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  fountain 
opened  to  the  house  of  David  and  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness.*"  ^ 
Water  is  the  obvious  and  universal  symbol  of 
purification,  but  the  deepest  symbol  of  purifica- 
tion from  sin  is  blood,  and  this  represents  the 
very  essence  of  the  sacrificial  idea.  When  the 
Baptist  discriminates  his  ministry  from  that  of 
Jesus,  and  points  to  Mm  as  "  the  Lamb  of 
God,""  2  he  implicitly  refers  to  the  fifty-third 
chapter  of  Isaiah,  the  prophecy  of  the  suffering 
Messiah,  who  by  his  death  makes  atonement  for 
the  people.  It  was  thus  that  Jesus  came  in  ful- 
filment of  prophecy ;  with  the  water  of  baptism 
he  brings  also  the  blood  of  atonement  and  the 
gift  of  the  Spirit.^  Hence  the  significance  of  the 
three  witnesses,  "  the  Spirit,  and  the  water,  and 
the  blood,"  which  agree  in  one  witness,  the  wit- 
ness of  God  concerning  his  Son,  who  comes  in 
fulfilment  of  prophecy.* 

It  is  thus  that  St.  John  delights  to  find  the 
Scriptures  confirmed  by  the  event,  the  event  ex- 
plained by  the  Scriptures. 

1  Zech.  xiii.  1. 

2  John  i.  29. 

8  John  vii.  37-39. 

*  See  my  Doctrine  of  St.  John,  pp.  154,  155. 


CONFIRMATION  69 

St.  John  is  a  pre-eminent  instance  of  that  type  Symholism 
of    mind    which    delights     in     symboUsm.      All 
Christians  are  not  so  constituted.     There  has  ever 
been  a  class  of  common-sense  people  who  have  no 
appreciation    of   the    symbolical.     Perhaps   they 
have  never  been  so  numerous  as  to-day,  and  never 
so  much  inclined  to  condemn  in  others  what  they 
do  not  enjoy  for  themselves.     They  might  justly 
repudiate  symbolism  if  they  were  right  in  think- 
ing that  it  usurps  the  place  of  sober  reason  and 
argument.     But,  in  truth,  symbol,  emblem,  and 
allegory  are    not   argument,  but  a   play    of  the 
fancy  around  a  fact  which  has  already  been  ac- 
cepted  with   conviction.     These   treasures    which 
St.  John  gathers  upon  the  shore  of  the  infinite 
mystery  —  be  they  pebbles    or   pearls  —  are  not 
proof  to  him  or  to  us  that  Jesus  js  the  Christ; 
but  once  we  have  accepted  him  as  Lord,  upon 
deeper  grounds  than  we  can  marshal  before  our 
consciousness,  we  too  find  ourselves  playing  like 
children  with  the  trifles  which  suggest  a  greater 
truth  than  we  have  grasped.     If  not  one  sparrow 
falls    without    our    Father,   and    the    very  hairs 
of  our  head  are  all  numbered,  the  death  of  the 
Messiah  must  have  significance  in  every  detail  — 
if  only  we  could  find  it !     And  so  we  build  with 
"gold,  silver,  hay,  stubble,"  while  well  we  know 
that  the  foundation,  though  out  of  sight,  is  of 
adamant. 


70  FIFTH    WORD 

Jerjs'  Yet  for  all  this  we  are  glad  to  observe  that  Jesus'* 

nroof"  "  °^^^  scriptural  proof  was  of  a  soberer  sort.  His  use 
of  those  passages  of  Scripture  which  directed  him 
in  life  and  comforted  him  in  death  is  distinguished, 
not  by  ingenuity  of  adaptation,  but  by  depth  of 
insight.  We  have  proof  and  example  of  this  in 
the  last  chapter.  It  is  true  of  all  his  interpreta- 
tions of  Scripture.  At  the  beginning  of  his  min- 
istrv  he  reassured  his  own  innate  assurance  of 
divine  Sonship  and  Messianic  vocation  by  appeal- 
ing to  that  part  of  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  which 
he  read  in  the  svnacroo-ue  at  Nazareth  and  ex- 
presslv  applied  to  himself: 

''  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me. 
Because  he  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to 

the  poor : 
He  hath  sent  me  to  proclaim  release  to  the  captives. 
And  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind_, 
To  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised. 
To  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."  ^ 

If  there  is  any  moral  meaning  in  the  ancient 
Scriptures,  if  there  is  any  constant  providence  of 
God  over  the  human  race,  if  any  significance 
in  historv,  this  proof  is  cogent.  To  the  same 
proof  Jesus  appealed  again  at  a  later  period, 
when  the  Baptist,  doubting  in  the  gloom  of  his 
prison  the  things  he  had  believed  in  the  glorious 

1  Luke  iv.  IS,  19  ;  cf.  Isa.  Lxi.  1,  2. 


CONFIRMATION  71 

freedom  of  the  wilderness,  sent  his  disciples  to  de- 
mand, "  Art  thou  he  that  cometh,  or  look  we  for 
another  ? '"'  Jesus  did  not  answer  in  words,  but  in 
deeds.  He  kept  the  messengers  with  him  while 
"  he  cured  many  of  diseases  and  plagues  and  evil 
spirits  ;  and  on  many  that  were  blind  he  bestowed 
sight.  And  he  answered  and  said  unto  them.  Go 
your  way,  and  tell  John  what  things  ye  have  seen 
and  heard :  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  the  lame 
walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear, 
the  dead  are  raised  up,  the  poor  have  good  tidings 
preached  to  them.  And  happy  is  he  whosoever 
shall  find  no  occasion  of  stumbling  in  me."  ^ 

It  was  in  the  Scriptures  Jesus  sought  and  found  The  Scrip- 
light  upon  the  mystery  of  the  suffering  fate  which  ^^{ain^is 
he  foresaw  in  the  path  of  rectitude  and  duty.     He  death 
saw   in   every    fate    that   might   befall    him    his 
Father's  will.     He  had  taught  every  son  of  man 
to  pray,  "  Father,  thy  will  be  done,""  as  an  expres- 
sion for  that  perfect  consummation  which  all  men 
must  desire  though  they  know  not  well  what  it  is ; 
and  he  himself,  when  that  good  will  seemed  to 
run  most  counter  to  his  own,  was  able  to  say, 
^''Nevertheless  not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done.""^ 
His   fate    once   recognized    as   the  Father''s  will, 
prompt  obedience  even  unto  death  was  the  expres- 
sion of  his  filial  consciousness ;  and  the  darkness 

1  Luke  vii.  18-23. 

2  Luke  xxii.  42 ;  cf.  Matt.  xxvi.  39  ;  Mark  xiv.  36. 


man 


72  FIFTH   WORD 

of  that  mystery  was  in  a  measure  relieved  by  the 
very  name  which  he  had  chosen  to  designate 
himself. 
"  Son  of  From  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  he  had 
called  himself  the  Son  of  man.  This  name  does 
not,  as  is  commonly  supposed,  emphasize  human- 
ity as  expressly  distinguished  from  divinity ;  it 
lays  no  stress  upon  human  origin,  and  denotes 
nothing  incompatible  with  the  claim  to  be  the 
Son  of  God ;  but  it  does  indicate  human  weakness 
in  contrast  with  the  brute  might  of  the  bestial 
powers  which  rule  the  world,  and  which  God  de- 
stroys in  order  to  raise  his  weak  but  elect  instru- 
ment to  universal  dominion.  This  is  the  meaning 
Jesus  rightly  read  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Daniel. 
Therefore  the  sense  of  his  weakness  produced  no 
abatement  of  his  confidence  that  God  was  able  to 
perform  whatsoever  he  purposed  to  do  through 
him.  As  a  weak  instrument  in  God's  mighty 
hand,  he  came  not  to  wrest  to  himself  a  kingdom, 
but  to  receive  it.  He  was  the  passive  instrument, 
and  it  not  so  much  signified  what  he  might  do 
as  what  might  be  done  to  him.  He  was  thus 
prepared  to  suffer,  and  even  to  suffer  death.  He 
knew  that  it  was  not  here  and  under  earthly  con- 
ditions that  his  kingdom  was  to  be  established ; 
but  as  "  with  the  clouds  of  heaven,  before  the 
Ancient  of  Days."*"*  Therefore  death,  as  a  liber- 
ation from  earthly  conditions,  was  a  preparation 


CON  FIRM  A  TION  73 

for  his  reign.  He  came  to  do  his  Father's  will, 
and  in  doing  it  he  encountered  a  fate  which, 
though  the  expression  of  that  will,  was  yet  con- 
ditioned and  explained  by  the  history  of  God's 
people  and  by  the  Scriptures  which  are  the  record 
of  it.  Therefore  Jesus,  no  less  than  his  disciples, 
was  disposed  to  find  a  meaning  in  everything  that 
befell  him.  "It  cannot  be,""  he  said,  "that  a 
prophet  perish  out  of  Jerusalem.'"  ^  As  he  ap- 
proached the  end,  he  saw  in  his  own  death  and 
in  the  momentary  dispersion  of  his  disciples  a 
fulfilment  of  Zechariah''s  prophecy,  "  I  will  smite 
the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered 
abroad.*"  ^  When  he  repudiated  Peter''s  effort  to 
rescue  him  by  force,  and  refrained  from  summon- 
ing supernatural  aid,  he  appealed  to  the  Scripture 
in  proof  "  that  thus  it  must  be.''''  ^  He  knew  that 
his  consummate  performance  was,  not  to  do,  but 
to  suffer,  waiting  upon  God. 

JESUS'   TEACHING   CONFIRMED    BY   THE 
CROSS 

The  Cross  is  the  fulfilment  and  confii-mation 
of  Scripture,  but  it  also  may  be  regarded  as  the 
confirmation  of  Jesus'*  ow^n  teaching.  I  am  not 
thinking  here  of  the  words  in  which  Jesus  fore- 

1  Luke  xiii.  33. 

2  Mark  xiv.  27  ;  cf.  vv.  21,  49,  and  Matt.  xxvi.  54,  5Q, 

3  Matt.  xxvi.  52-54. 


74 


FIFTH    WORD 


Jesus  as 
teacher 


told  his  death,  but  of  the  hard  precepts  which 
were  sealed  by  the  Cross. 

Here  is  One  whom  we  account  the  chiefest 
teacher  of  mankind ;  yet  he  himself  seemed  to 
set  so  small  a  value  upon  his  teaching  that  he 
never  wrote  but  once,  and  that  was  upon  the 
ground  —  no  man  knows  what  he  wrote.  The 
chief  thing  in  his  estimation  was,  not  what  he 
said,  but  what  he  did ;  rather,  not  what  he  did, 
but  what  he  suffered.  Yet  in  all  this  he  would 
have  men  regard  him  as  the  Teacher.  It  was 
as  a  teacher  he  first  gathered  his  disciples  about 
him;  and  the  sum  of  all  that  he  is  —  from  first 
to  last,  in  word  and  deed  —  we  justly  express  by 
the  name  we  have  given  him,  the  Word  of  God. 
The  School  of  Jesus  preceded  the  Church  ;  but 
the  Church  is  still  the  School  of  the  exalted 
Christ.  What  Jesus  is  to  us  as  Teacher,  Ten- 
nyson has  expressed  : 

"  And  so  the  Word  had  breath  and  wrought 
With  human  hands  the  creed  of  creeds. 
In  loveliness  of  perfect  deeds. 
More  strong  than  all  poetic  thought." 

Teaching        Such  being  the  character   of  our  Teacher,  we 

from  the    y^\XQY  no  baffling!  paradox  when  we  say  that  even 
Cross  or  j 

his  wonderful  words  are  incomplete  if  they  stand 
alone,  and  that  Jesus  was  never  so  much  our 
Teacher  as  when  he  kept  silence  upon  the  Cross. 


CONFIRMATION  75 

The  words  of  Christ  must  not  be  separated  from 
his  life ;  his  hfe  cannot  be  separated  from  his 
death.  The  teaching  of  Christ  is  Christianity ; 
but  the  teaching  of  Christ  cannot  be  divorced 
from  the  Cross. 

The   newness  of  Jesus'  teaching   first  became  Newness 
fully  evident  at  the   Cross.     "  Follow  me,''  said  Caching 
Jesus  to  those  whom  he  chose  out  of  the  world ; 
but  until  he  had  descended  unto  death  that  he 
might  ascend  to  glory,  no  man  knew  whither  he 
led.     In  that  path  no  teacher  had  led  before. 

The  hardest  of  Jesus'  precepts,  those  particu-  Jesus' 
larly  which  commend  the  non-resistance  of  evil,  ^^^cltts 
are  explained  —  and  not  explained  away  —  by  the  o*"^  ^*^ 
Cross.     From  the  line  of  thought  we  have  just  of  conduct 
been  following  above,  it  is  clear  that  these  pre- 
cepts are  the  direct  outcome  of  Jesus'  inmost  con- 
sciousness, the  practical  expression  of  his  faith  in 
God's  justice  and  of  his  confidence  in  God's  wis- 
dom and  might.     They  were  first  of  all  his  own 
rule  of  conduct :   but  he  made  them   over  unto 
every  son  of  man.     For  whoso  has  this  faith  and 
maintains  this  confidence  will    not    believe  that 
God's  ark  is  tottering,  nor  intrude  upon  his  plan 
with  the  violent  purposes  of  anger.     God's  plan 
is  worked  out  in  part  by  human  instrumentality, 
and  he  can  make  even  the  wrath  of  men  to  serve 
him;  but  the  direct  and  conscious  instruments  of 
his  will  strive  not  in  anger  but  in  love.    Yet  strive 


76  FIFTH   WORD 

they  do,  and  with  a  godly  violence.-^  We  mis- 
interpret the  meekness  which  Jesus  exempHfied 
and  inculcates  when  we  represent  it  as  mere  pas- 
sivity, or  as  a  formal  compliance  with  a  rule.  To 
suffer  and  yet  forego  revenge  is  a  sign  of  cowardice 
or  hypocrisy,  if  anger  is  merely  dissimulated,  and 
not  rather  conquered  by  the  greater  violence  of 
love. 

Love  of  We   have    already   seen    wherein    consists   the 

novelty  of  Jesus'*  commandment  to  love  the 
brethren  ;  but  newer  still  is  the  commandment  to 
love  one''s  enemies,  and  this,  though  enjoined  be- 
fore, we  see  exemplified  for  the  first  time  at  the 
Cross.  To  turn  the  other  cheek  to  the  smiter,  to 
give  one''s  coat  to  whoso  takes  one's  cloak,  —  these 
are  hard  sayings ;  without  the  meekness  of  love 
they  are  impossible.  But  this  word  "  meekness,"'"' 
if  we  understand  it  aright,  is  only  another  name  for 
love, — love  in  its  most  specifically  Christian  aspect. 
The  sincerity  of  these  precepts  appears,  and  the 
hardship  vanishes,  when  we  contemplate  him  who, 
with  his  cloak,  gave  his  life  also,  and  yet  loved 
his  slayers.  Jesus  forgave  his  enemies  because  he 
loved  them  ;  and  he  loved  them,  and  could  not 
hate,  because  he  came  expressly  to  serve  and  save 
them. 

Self-  Like  Peter,  we  are  prone  to  ask,  How   many 

times  shall  I  forgive  a  brother  his  petty  faults, 

1  Cf.  2  Tim.  ii.  24  with  Col.  i.  29. 


renunci 
ation 


CONFIRMATION  77 

"  till  seven  times "'  ?  Jesus'  word  of  forgiveness 
upon  the  Cross  forever  sets  at  naught  such  cal- 
culation. "  Whoso  renounceth  not  all  that  he 
hath,"  saith  Jesus,  "  cannot  be  my  disciple."  ^ 
And  at  once  we  begin  again  with  our  mean  and 
minimizing  calculation  :  How  much  is  "  all "  ? 
We  receive  our  answer  at  the  Cross.  And  in 
the  same  moment,  in  view  of  a  death  which  ex- 
hibited to  the  utmost  the  vital  vigor  of  love,  we 
recognize  the  truth  of  the  saying,  "  A  man's  life 
consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things 
which  he  possesseth."  ^ 

When  Jesus  said,  "  If  any  man  would  come 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his 
cross,  and  follow  me,"  ^  he  may  have  had  in  mind 
some  familiar  proverb,  or  a  criminal  passing  to 
his  execution  may  have  suggested  and  enforced 
the  expression  ;  but  the  sober  sincerity  of  this 
saying  was  surely  never  appreciated  until  it  was 
remembered  upon  Mount  Calvary. 

Jesus  employed  a  more  familiar  figure  when  he  Meekness 
enjoined  his  disciples  to  bear  his  "yoke,"  saying 
to  all  who  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  "  Take  my 
yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  me,  for  I  am  meek 
and  lowly  in  heart."  *  In  face  of  the  fact  that 
Jesus  calls  upon  us  to  learn  meekness  from  him^  it 
is  strange  that  we  should  so  commonly  misinter- 

1  Luke  xiv.  33.  2  Luke  xii.  15. 

3  Matt.  xvi.  24.  *  Matt.  xi.  29. 


78  FIFTH    WORD 

pret  this  word,  treating  it  as  equivalent  to  the 
monkish  humilitas,  which  means  lowliness  in  self- 
estimation  — "  with   a   true    knowledge   of  one^s 
self  to  abhor  one's  self,'"  as  St.  Bernard  defines  it. 
This   manifestly   does    not    hit    the    meaning    of 
JesQs,  and  it  is  his  meaning  we  must  apprehend 
if  we  would  have  meekness  untainted  with  hypoc- 
risy.     With  him  it   meant,  not  a  lowly  opinion 
of  himself — no  thinking  of  himself  at  all,  but 
the  complete  abstraction  of  self-regard,  and  the 
assumption   in  actual   fact  of  a  lowly  condition. 
"  Yoke ''  and  "  burden "  are  the  symbols  of  ser- 
vice, and   it  was  in  the  express    character  of  a 
servant  that  Jesus  appeared  among  men.^     Low- 
liness of  outward  estate  is  essential  to  the  idea, 
yet  it  is  not  this  alone,  nor  this  chiefly.     In  so 
far  as  it  involves  an  attitude  of  mind,  —  as  St.  Paul 
intimates  that  it  does  when  he  enjoins,  "  Let  this 
mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus,'"  "^ 
—  it   is  an   attitude  which   is  the   genuine   and 
spontaneous  expression  of  one  who  has  accepted  a 
humble  position^  the  attitude  of  one  who  has  re- 
nounced the  ideal  of  mastery  and  embraced  the 
ideal  of  service.     The  phrases  which  Jesus  uses  — 
"  lowly  in    heart,""    "  poor   in    spirit "  —  indicate 
that  as  an  affair  of  the  heart  it  must  be  a  service 
voluntarily  assumed  or  willingly  endured.     The 
word   which  we   translate   by  "  meekness ""  is  an 

1  Matt.  XX.  28  ;  Mark  x.  44  ;  Luke  xxii.  27  ;  Phil.  ii.  7. 


CONFIRMATION  79 

Old  Testament  term  which  may  equally  well  de- 
note mere  poverty-  It  was  Jesus  that  first  raised 
it  to  an  aiFair  of  the  heart  and  inculcated  it  as  a 
virtue.  An  affair  of  the  heart  it  is,  but  not  of 
a  heart  busy  about  its  own  interests,  "  looking  to 
its  own  things,  but  looking  to  the  things  of 
others."  ^  When  we  have  rightly  apprehended 
this  conception  we  shall  find  that  the  apparently 
preposterous  injunction  of  St.  Paul,  "  Let  each 
esteem  others  better  than  himself,''''  ^  is  practically 
possible  of  execution.  For,  in  reality,  it  proposes 
no  critical  estimate  of  character  ;  but  the  dutiful 
devotion  which  judgeth  not^  —  the  attitude  of  the 
true  servant  towards  his  master. 

This  is  the  newest  and  most  distinctive  feature 
of  Jesus'*  moral  teaching,  and  again  we  note  that 
it  finds  its  ultimate  test  and  confirmation  in  the 
Cross.  No  disciple  could  adequately  conceive 
what  the  "  yoke "  as  a  symbol  of  service  might 
signify,  until  he  saw  it  identified  with  the  Cross. 
The  world^s  ethical  ideal  at  its  highest  is  self- 
realization,  and  it  is  an  ideal  which  the  Christian 
of  all  men  is  least  able  to  ignore,  since  he  seeks 
in  Jesus  the  Saviour  of  his  life  and  finds  in  him 
the  promise  that  he  shall  be  blessed.  Yet  from 
the  same  mouth  he  receives  the  commandment  of 
self-renunciation.  Jesus  had  a  perfect  perception 
of  the  paradox  which  lies  in  this  ideal  of  service, 
1  Phil.  ii.  5.  2  Phil.  ii.  4. 


80  FIFTH    WORD 

and  he  himself  has  expressed  it  in  the  most  abso- 
lute terms.  When  he  says,  "  Every  one  that  ex- 
alteth  himself  shall  be  humbled :  and  he  that 
humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted,""^  he  utters  an 
adage  which  finds  application  and  confirmation  in 
many  of  the  common  situations  of  life.  But  when 
he  says,  "  Whosoever  would  save  his  life  shall  lose 
it :  and  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake 
shall  save  it,""^  how  should  we  believe  his  saying, 
did  not  the  Cross  witness  at  once  to  its  sincerity 
and  to  its  truth  ? 

It  is  significant  that  St.  Paul,  who  is  not  wont 
to  dwell  upon  the  personal  traits  of  Jesus,  recalls 
emphatically  the  one  trait  we  have  here  been  con- 
sidering, when   he  says,  "  I   beseech  you  by  the 
meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ.'"  ^     The  meek- 
ness of  Jesus  was  manifest  in   the  whole  of  his 
earthly  life ;    yet  it  is  characteristic  of  St.  Paul 
that  when,  as  in   the  second  chapter  of  Philip- 
pians,  he  discourses  at  length  upon  "  this  mind 
which  was  in  Christ  Jesus,*"  he  finds  it  supremely 
exhibited   in  the  descent   from  heaven  to  earth, 
and  finally  and  climactically  in  the  Cross. 
Imitation       It  is  an  exceedingly  striking  fact  that  the  com- 
mfferina    ^^^^^^^ments  which  Jesus  enjoins  upon  his  disciples 
Christ        as   the   mere  condition   of  discipleship — not   as 

^  Luke  xiv.  11 ;  Matt,  xxiii.  12. 

2  Matt.  xvi.  25 ;  Mark  viii.  35 ;  Luke  ix.  24. 

8  2  Cor.  X.  1. 


CONFIRMATION  81 

counsels  of  unattainable  perfection,  as  we  are  fain 
to  regard  them  — are  precisely  those  hard  com- 
mandments which  find  their  full  exemplification 
only   at    the    Cross.     This  agrees   with    the  fact 
which   we  observe   in    the   Apostolic    Scriptures, 
that  wherever  we  are  exhorted  to  the  imitation 
of  Jesus,  it  is  not  in  view  of  the  human  excellen- 
cies of  his  character  which  are  most  nearly  level 
with    our   attainment,    but   in   view  precisely  of 
those  traits  in  which  he  transcended  human  limits 
in  giving  himself  over  unto  death.     Everywhere 
it  is  the  death  of  Jesus  — the  Cross  — which  is 
proposed  for  our  imitation.^     It  is  a  wholesome 
example,  not  because  it  is  death,  but  because  it 
exhibits  the  utmost  plenitude  of  life,  — life  flow- 
ing onward  towards  the  Cross,  converging  upon 
it,  —  and  persisting  unchecked,  we  must  beheve. 
This  is  our  surest  argument  for  life  beyond  death. 
If  Jesus  ever  lived,  he  lived  supremely  upon  the 
Cross ;  for,  with  him,  to  live  was  to  love.     Life 
which  exhibits  in  one  moment  such  sheer  abun- 
dance that  it  spills  its  overplus,  cannot  be  about 
to  cease,  but  to  escape. 

To  the  rule  that  it  is  everywhere  the  sufferings 
of  Jesus  which  are  proposed  in  the  Scriptures  for 
our  imitation,  there  is  only  one  notable  exception. 
That  is  where  St.  John  makes  use  of  a  term  so 
general  that  it  covers  the  whole  life,  exhortino-  us 

1  Cf.  2  Cor.  iv.  10. 
6 


82  FIFTH    WORD 

"  to  walk  as  he  walked."  ^  To  this  St.  Augustine 
pertinently  remarks  that  when  Christ  was  nailed 
to  the  Cross  he  still  walked^  for  the  path  in  which 
he  trod  was  love  —  ^^Jixus  in  cruce  erat  et  in  ipsa 
via  amhulabat:  ipsa  est  via  caritatisr 

JESUS  REIGNS  FROM  THE  TREE  —  AND  THE 
SECRET  OF  HIS  SCEPTRE'S  SWAY  OVER 
THE    HEARTS  OF  MEN  IS   HIS  SUFFERING. 

^  1  John  ii.  6. 


THE   SIXTH   WORD 

ACCOMPLISHMENT   AND   DUTY 

When  Jesus  therefore   had   received   the  vinegar,  he  said: 
It  is  finished.  — John  xix.  30. 


I 


ACCOMPLISHMENT 

T  would  not  be  strange  or  startling  if  Dante  Jems"  joy 
had  found  in  this  word,  "  It  is  finished,"  the  "J^^^T^ 


proof  of  Jesus'  joy  in  suffering,  the  gladness 
of  labor  accomplished,  of  homesickness  relieved. 
It  is  certain  that  St.  John  perceived  this  meaning 
in  the  saying  which  he  alone  has  recorded.  And 
we  who  read  it  are  irresistibly  reminded  of  Isaiah's 
prophecy,  "  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul : 
he  shall  be  satisfied :  by  his  knowledge  shall  my 
righteous  servant  make  many  righteous :  and  he 
shall  bear  their  iniquities."'  ^ 

The  Jews  and  their  rulers  congratulated  them- 
selves that  by  their  subtilty  and  force  they  had 
cut  short  and  ended  this  man's  career  :  "  Finished," 
replied  Jesus.  His  work  is  accomplished  —  it  is 
also  over.  For  a  man  to  say.  My  work  is  over 
yet  incomplete,  is  to  pronounce  a  curse  upon  his 

1  Isa.  liii.  11. 


84  SIXTH    WORD 

life.     But  Jesus  knew  that  because  his  work  was 

God's  work,  it  could  not  be  ended  without  being 

finished ;    and    the   joy    of   accomplishment    was 

superadded  to  the  joy  of  labor  done. 

The  joy  Jesus  knew  by  faith  that  his  task  was  accom- 

of  every  '^  . 

servant  of  piished,   though   it   did   not   so  appear  to   men. 

Goclin       p^^^  ^^       ^^g  j^^^  thence  draw  this  comfort,  that 
work  done  -^  ^  ' 

for  every  servant  of  God  the  end  is  also  accom- 
plishment ?     Though  his  strength  be  cut  off  in 
the  prime,  and  his  plans  perish  before  they  be 
effected,  must  we  not  believe  that  his  service  in 
the  kingdom  of  God  —  and  what  else  counts  be- 
neath  the   Cross  ?  —  is    not    merely   ended    but 
finished  ?     Even  of  the  believing  thief  it  might 
be  said,  though  he  might  not  say  it  of  himself, 
that  his  work  was  finished.     We  are  weak  ;  "  how- 
beit  the  firm  foundation  of  God  standeth,  having 
this  seal.  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his." 
The  joy  of      This  confidence  of  Jesus  is  an  example  to  his 
disciples.     St.  Paul,  too,  though  he  saw  himself 
about  to  be  cut  off  by  a  violent  death,  dared  to 
affirm,  "  I  have  fought   the   good    fight,   I  have 
finished  the  course,  I  have  kept   the  faith.'"*     If 
these  words   match  Jesus'   consciousness   of  duty 
done,  the  next  words  of  glad  anticipation  reflect 
his  joy  in  the  confidence  of  reward,  having  also 
the  same  basis  in  the  consciousness  of  moral  in- 
tegrity conjoined  with  faith  in  God's  righteous- 
ness: "  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  the  crown 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  DUTY   85 

of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous 
judge,  shall  give  to  me  at  that  day,  —  and  not 
only  to  me,  but  also  to  all  them  that  love  his 
appearing."'^  St.  Paul  is  very  bold  in  drawing 
the  parallel  between  his  experience  and  that  of 
Christ.  He  even  suggests  that  there  is  a  sense 
in  which  we  may  say  that  Christ's  sacrifice  was 
not  the  last  and  only  offering  for  sin.  For  he 
says,  "  Now  I  rejoice  in  my  sufferings,  for  your 
sake,  and  fill  up  on  my  part  that  which  is  lacking 
of  the  afflictions  of  Christ,  in  my  flesh,  for  his 
body''s  sake,  which  is  the  Church."' ^  And  in  the 
context  of  the  passage  we  have  just  quoted,  he 
says,  "  I  am  already  being  offered  —  poured  out 
as  a  drink-offering."  ^  St.  Paul  dares  to  speak 
thus  because  he  accepted  in  earnest  the  Cross  as 
the  symbol  of  discipleship,  —  and  by  the  same 
token  he  could  count  upon  the  Crown. 

St.  Paul  is  not  the  only  disciple  that  has  dared, 
and  rightly  dared,  to  use  such  words.  We  may 
not  all  dare  to  count  so  confidently  upon  the 
Crown,  nor  with  such  assurance  to  reckon  our 
work  accomplished,  —  too  much  bowed  down  by 
the  conviction  of  failure,  by  the  thought  of  service 
so  late  commenced,  so  faintly  prosecuted.  We 
repeat  the  words  of  the  Psalmist  as  our  own  heart- 
felt cry, 

1  2  Tim.  iv.  7,  8.  -  Col.  i.  94. 

3  2  Tim.  iv.  6. 


86  SIXTH    WORD 

"  O   Lord,   establish   thou    the   work  of  our  hands 
upon  us ; 
O  prosper,  thou,  our  handy- work." 

Nevertheless,  when  we  see  our  work  tested  as 
by  fire  and  consumed,  we  may  still  comfort  our- 
selves with  the  thought  that  man's  failure  may  be 
God's  accomplishment. 

DUTY 
Accom-  We  cannot  use  the  word  "  finished  "  or  "  accom- 

^m^Zr*  plished  "  except  in  relation  to  a  definite  task.     A 
duty  task  which  is  imposed  by  authority  is  a  duty,  and 

the  joy  of  accomplishment  is  the  joy  of  duty  done. 
This  word,  therefore,  of  Jesus  implies  that  he 
regarded  his  whole  life,  and  particularly  his  suf- 
fering and  death,  under  the  aspect  of  duty.  The 
sternness  of  duty,  Jesus  felt  as  few  men  have ; 
and  because  he  never  had  to  suffer  remorse  for 
a  duty  shunned,  he  experienced  in  full  measure 
the  joy  of  duty  done.  The  joy  of  Jesus  may  be 
expressed,  like  that  of  any  other  man,  in  the 
words  of  Wordsworth  in  his  Ode  to  Duty : 

"  Stern  Lawgiver  !  yet  thou  dost  wear 
The  Godhead's  most  benignant  grace  ; 
Nor  know  we  anything  so  fair 
As  is  the  smile  upon  thy  face." 

Jesus'  It  is  exceedingly  necessary  for  us  to  note  what 

dut^^"^     place    duty    held   in    Jesus'   consciousness.      Our 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  DUTY   87 

modern  age,  by  ignoring  the  most  palpable  facts 
of  the  Gospel  record,  has  succeeded  in  eliminating 
this  stern  feature  from  the  popular  picture  of 
Jesus.  Our  popular  art,  popular  religion,  and 
even  the  popular  theology  depict  exclusively  the 
soft  traits  of  tender-hearted  sympathy  and  weak 
concession.  Other  ages  have  preferred  their  own 
partial  and  unbalanced  picture  of  Christ  —  as 
the  impassible  monarch,  as  the  vindictive  judge, 
as  the  excruciated  victim  ;  —  but  perhaps  no  other 
has  done  graver  damage  to  the  majesty  of  his 
character. 

The  revival  in  modern  times  of  the  Good  Shep-  The  senti- 

11  1        J.1  '1  ^•n  mental 

nerd  as   a  popular  theme  ni  art  exemplines  our  picture 

sentimental  notion  of  Christ.     For  what  we  ex-  of  Jems 

clusively   dwell    upon    is   the    pitifulness   of   the 

Shepherd,   who    leaves    the  whole    flock    to    seek 

the  one  sheep  that  has  gone  astray.     We  ignore 

the  wealthier  range  of  pastoral  symbolism  which 

appears  in  the  Scripture  and  in  early  Christian 

art.     The  question  may  well  be  raised  whether 

such  a  shepherd  as  we  depict  would  dare  attack 

the  wolf;  whether  he  is  mighty  enough  to  rescue 

the  soul  "  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.'*'' 

This  is  merely  one  example  among  many,  —  only 

a  straw,  but  it  shows  the  direction  of  the  wind.^ 

If  men  are  able  to  disregard  the  stern  quality  Sin 

of  duty  in   our  Lord'*s  own  consciousness,  it  is 

1  See  my  Monuments  of  the  Early  Chim'ch^  pp.  214  sqq. 


88  SIXTH   WORD 

not  strange  that  they  hsten  only  to  his  gracious 
promises,  and  hear  no  longer  the  sterner  note 
of  his  commandments,  —  the  most  exacting  any 
teacher  ever  uttered.  Knowing  themselves  no 
rule  of  duty,  they  know  no  sin ;  and  having  in- 
terpreted the  Father  by  their  estimate  of  the  Son, 
they  have  no  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes.  This 
is  the  tendency  of  our  whole  modern  age.  It  is 
the  tendency  which  Heine  satirized  from  his  "  mat- 
tress-grave,''"' when  he  replied  to  those  who  asked 
him  if  he  hoped  in  God's  forgiveness,  "  Oh,  he  11 
forgive  me  :  that 's  what  he  's  for  —  c'est  son 
metier.'''' 
Tempta-  One  who  swims  with  the  current  cannot  know 
its  force :  one  who  knows  not  the  good  will  of 
God  opposing  his  human  will  has  no  experience 
of  the  imperative  of  conscience.  Conversely,  that 
man,  if  such  there  be,  who  knows  the  will  of  God, 
yet  feels  within  himself  no  prompting  to  oppose 
it,  can  have  no  sense  of  the  compulsion  of  duty. 
This  is  true  also  of  Jesus.  Those  who,  with  ex- 
cess of  zeal  to  guard  the  sinlessness  of  Jesus, 
scruple  even  to  admit  the  reality  of  his  tempta- 
tion, succeed  only  in  depriving  him  of  an  essential 
human  experience,  —  essential  most  of  all  to  the 
Saviour  of  men.  The  sinlessness  of  Jesus  is  a 
dogma  of  our  faith,  and  it  is  attested  by  Jesus'* 
own  words  in  the  Gospel.^     But  the  same  Gospels 

1  John  viii.  46. 


Hon 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  DUTY   89 

also  attest  the  reality  of  his  temptation,  and  that 
in  a  story  which  they  must  have  derived  from 
Jesus  himself.^  The  Temptation  of  Jesus,  which 
is  related  immediately  after  the  story  of  his 
baptism,  depicts  in  symbolical  language  a  triple 
experience  of  the  prompting  of  individual  desire 
which  was  the  direct  outcome  of  the  recognition 
of  his  Messianic  vocation.  The  essential  fact  is 
that  Jesus  overcame  temptation  ;  and  it  is  signifi- 
cant that  he  overcame  by  appealing  to  the  rule 
of  duty  which  he  found  in  the  Scripture,  reply- 
ing to  every  prompting  of  the  Tempter,  "  It 
is  written/"'  This  was  doubtless  not  the  only 
temptation  he  encountered  as  a  man,  nor  was 
it  the  last  or  bitterest  of  the  Christ.  Recog- 
nizing the  reality  of  Jesus'  temptation,  we  know 
that  "  we  have  not  a  high  priest  who  is  unable 
to  sympathize  with  our  weaknesses,  but  one  who 
has  been  tempted  in  all  points  in  the  very  same 
way  without  sin^  ^  Jesus  knew  sin  by  conflict 
with  it ;  and  by  conflict  and  victory  he  knew  it 
better  than  any  man  can  know  it  by  conflict  and 
defeat. 

Jesus  feared  God.     We  can  say  this  in  the  full  Jems' fear 
sense  of  the  scriptural  term.     For,  at  its  highest,  ^^ 
fear  is  not  the  opposite  and  exclusive  contrary 
of  love.     We  may  rather  say  that  "  the  fear  of 

1  Matt.  iv.  1-11  ;  Luke  iv.  1-13. 

2  Heb.  iv.  15. 


90  SIXTH   WORD 

God"  is  the  closest  Old  Testament  parallel  to 
the  New  Testament  conception  of  "the  love  of 
God''  and  "faith  in  God.'' ^  Jesus  feared  God 
too  much  to  blench  from  the  perfect  line  of 
rectitude.  The  fearfulness  of  duty  was  at  once 
his  guide  and  his  defence.  The  fear  of  God  is 
the  inevitable  experience  of  conscience :  it  is 
a  slavish  fear  when  we  hate  the  authority  we 
are  obliged  to  recognize ;  it  is  a  filial  fear  when 
we  love  it  and  even  in  our  disobedience  com- 
mend it.  To  put  away  from  us  fear  is  not 
to  gain  in  courage,  but  to  cast  away  our  armor 
through  temerity. 

Jesus  feared  God,  and  he  expressly  inculcated 
this  fear  in  his  disciples.  He  means,  evidently, 
not  mere  awe,  but  genuine  fear,  when  he  says,  "  Be 
not  afraid  of  them  which  kill  the  body,  and  after 
that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do.  But  I  will 
warn  you  whom  ye  shall  fear  :  Fear  him  who  after 
he  hath  killed  the  body  hath  power  to  cast  into 
hell ;  yea,  I  say  unto  you.  Fear  him."^  This  is  a 
wholesome  fear,  and  it  excludes  every  worldly  fear 
which  perturbs  our  peace  and  frustrates  our  en- 
deavors. Hence  there  is  no  real  contradiction  in 
the  commandment  which  Jesus  subjoins :  "  Fear 
wo^."  ^     This  last  is  an  injunction  which  admits  of 

1  Deut.  X.  12. 

2  Luke  xii.  4,  5  ;  cf.  Matt.  x.  28. 
*  Luke  xii.  7. 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  DUTY   91 

but  one  exception.  The  fear  of  God  makes  us 
bold.  When  we  recognize  our  wayward  helpless- 
ness and  cast  ourselves  trustfully  upon  the  inti- 
mate, personal  care  of  our  heavenly  Father,  the 
changes  and  chances  of  this  mortal  life  frighten  us 
no  more.  When  we  are  freed  from  the  innumer- 
able fears  which  it  is  the  whole  province  of  worldly 
prudence  to  guard  against,  we  find  the  true  guid- 
ing principle  of  life  in  the  fear  of  God. 

The  sense  of  duty,  of  obligation  to  do  the  right  Conscience 

whatever  befall,  is  the  only  possible  P-uide  of  life.  ^^^  o»^y 
^  ^  .  puide  of 

God  may  be  guided  by  wisdom  and  prudence,  for  life 
he  sees  the  whole  :  but  for  us  who  see  but  in  part, 
the  only  wisdom  and  prudence  is  to  ignore  the 
specious  guidance  of  profit  and  expediency,  and 
follow  in  the  straight  path  of  rectitude.  We 
believe  in  God's  providence  in  the  universe,  and 
as  a  part  of  this  faith  we  believe  that  to  do  the 
right  is  to  fulfil  God's  will  and  to  conform  to  his 
plan.  But  from  the  point  of  view  from  which 
man  must  regard  the  universe  it  exhibits  no  plan 
which  he  can  surely  trace :  it  appears  rather  as  a 
boundless  intricacy.  It  is  astonishing  that  in 
this  maze  we  should  so  commonly  take  for  our 
guide  the  wisdom  of  the  understanding,  when  by 
wisdom  we  cannot  compute  the  remote  conse- 
quences of  any  act,  and  by  the  most  far-sighted 
prudence  cannot  be  assured  of  attaining  even  our 
own   temporal  profit.     In   our  faith   in  God   we 


92  SIXTH    WORD 

have  the  assurance  that  the  right  is  also  the  good, 
—  for  us  and  for  all.  This  is  the  conclusion  of 
the  wisdom  of  the  Preacher  :  "  Fear  God  and  keep 
his  commandments ;  for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of 
man."  ^  And  Job  likewise,  after  the  most  impres- 
sive discourse  upon  God's  wisdom  in  the  ordering 
of  the  universe,  makes  a  sudden  transition  to  the 
one  way  of  practical  wisdom  which  is  obvious  to 
man : 

"And  unto  man  he  said^ 
Behold,  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  that  is  wisdom ; 
And  to  depart  from  evil  is  understanding."  ^ 

Jesus  our  Jesus  walked  as  the  example  of  men  ;  and  there- 
tnthepath  ^"^^^  ^^  walked  in  man's  path  and  under  human 
of  duty  limitations:  the  wisdom  which  guided  him  was 
not  the  all-seeing  wisdom  of  God,  infallible  in  its 
calculation  of  expediency  ;  but  the  practical  reason 
with  its  sure  j  udgment  of  right.  This  light  which 
sheds  its  narrow  beams  only  upon  our  immediate 
pathway  is  yet  the  only  light  man  has  for  his 
practical  guidance ;  and  it  is  of  this  Jesus  ex- 
claims, "  If  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness, 
how  great  is  the  darkness  !  "  ^ 

The  temptations  which  are  related  of  Jesus  are 
such  as  could  influence  only  a  noble  mind.     To 

1  Eccles.  xii.  13  ;  cf.  Pro  v.  ix.  10. 

2  Job  xxviii.  28. 

3  Matt.  vi.  23 ;  cf.  Luke  xi.  35. 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  DUTY   93 

turn  stones  into  bread,  to  grasp  earthly  dominion, 
to  claim  supernatural  protection,  —  these  do  not 
represent  the  temptations  of  selfish  lust  (the  lust 
of  appetite,  the  lust  of  conquest,  the  lust  of 
power)  :  they  were  the  temptations  of  the  Mes- 
siah, temptations  to  attain  the  end  of  God*'s  evi- 
dent purpose  by  diverging  from  the  sober  road  of 
right  into  a  plausible  short-cut  of  expediency 
which  promised  a  swifter  issue.  No  one  was  ever 
more  tempted  to  fulfil  a  lofty  aim  by  means  —  not 
illegal,  but  aside  from  the  plain  path  of  duty  :  no 
one  ever  more  resolutely  refused  to  leave  that 
sober  path.  Therefore  Jesus,  for  all  his  zeal  and 
enthusiasm  in  a  high  cause,  cannot  justly  be  reck- 
oned among  zealots  and  enthusiasts.  He  is  the 
more  perfectly  our  example  because  he  displays 
the  simplicity  and  power  of  a  life  led  according  to 
the  rule  of  duty.  He  is  supremely  our  example 
in  his  death  because  that  was  the  culmination  of  a 
dutiful  life. 

It  was  because  of  Jesus'  own  solemn  regard  for  The 
duty  that  he  could  impose  upon  his  disciples  the  ^qT-12^ 
most   uncompromising   and    exacting    command- i^r^ce^*^* 
ments.     He  imposed  upon  them  even  his  Cross  ;  hy  1m  ov^n 
and  the  Cross  is  the  very  symbol  of  duty.     The  ^^.'/"•^f^/o^ 
Cross  excludes  every  precept  of  expediency,  —  even 
the  obvious  expediency  of  saving  oner's  life.     The 
paradox  which  Jesus  expresses  in  word  and  deed 
is  an  absolute  one :  it  is  denied,  not  explained,  by 


94  SIXTH   WORD 

those  who  resolve  it  into  a  far-sighted  rule  of  pru- 
dence, which  counsels  us  to  exchange  gladly  the 
temporal  life  for  life  eternal.  To  seek  one"'s  own 
life,  the  salvation  of  one"'s  soul,  even  in  the  high- 
est sense,  Jesus  forbids  ;  —  and  yet  life  is  what  he 
promises.  This  riddle  cannot  be  solved  by  any 
effort  of  the  understanding.  How,  we  may  ask, 
can  the  individual  come  to  mighty  self-realization 
by  the  suppression  of  all  claims  of  self?  How 
can  he  attain  the  goal  of  his  own  life  by  self- 
abnegation,  by  the  renunciation  of  an  independent 
life  aim  directed  to  the  perfection  of  his  ego^  by 
ignoring  all  that  contributes  to  his  personal  satis- 
faction, and  by  making  himself  merely  a  service- 
able instrument  for  the  development  of  others  ? 
But  in  our  experience  this  inconceivable  becomes 
the  actual.  It  is  realized  in  the  man  whom  the 
personal  life  of  Jesus  takes  captive.  Jesus  woos 
us  to  a  willing  service,  since  we  see  in  him  the  one 
who  is  alone  worthy  to  rule  and  who  yet  takes 
upon  himself  service  as  his  distinctive  mark. 
When  his  might  over  us  creates  the  willingness 
to  serve  and  the  power  to  serve,  we  have  then 
attained  what  by  no  decision  of  self-interested 
prudence,  and  by  no  concern  about  ourselves 
and  all  that  we  find  within  ourselves,  is  ever 
attainable.^ 

1  See  W.   Herrmann,  article  Demut,  in  Herzog's  Real- 
encyklopddie,  3d  ed. ,  vol.  iv.  pp.  571  sqq. 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  DUTY   95 

Jesus'  repudiation  of  formalism  did  not  mean  Jems' 
emancipation  from  the  law  of  duty  —  either  for  ^^ahteous- 
himself  or  for  his  disciples.  In  receiving  the  ness 
baptism  of  John  he  declared,  "  It  becometh  us  to 
fulfil  all  righteousness,""  ^  —  meaning  thereby  the 
formal  prescriptions  of  piety,  even  where  they 
were  not  defined  by  the  Scriptures.  We  have  to 
note  that  Jesus  expresses  his  thought,  not  in  the 
terms  of  conscience  and  duty,  which  are  familiar 
to  us,  but  in  the  equivalent  Hebrew  terms  of  law 
and  righteousness.  He  says,  "  Think  not  that  I 
came  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets  :  I  came 
not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.""*^  He  claimed  to 
give  a  purer  conception  of  the  law  of  righteous- 
ness, but  not  one  which  was  less  genuinely  derived 
from  the  Scriptures.  He  repudiated  the  right- 
eousness which  was  done  in  selfish  expectation 
of  reward,  teaching  us  rather  to  say,  when  we 
have  done  all  that  is  commanded  of  us,  "  We 
are  unprofitable  servants ;  we  have  done  that 
which  it  was  our  duty  to  do."^  But  he  re- 
gards the  filial  duty  of  a  son  of  God  as,  not 
less,  but  more  exacting  than  the  servile  perform- 
ance of  the  hireling  :  "  Except  your  righteousness 
shall  exceed  that  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees, 
ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."'  ^ 

1  Matt.  iii.  15.  2  Matt.  v.  17. 

8  Luke  xvii.  10.  ^  Matt.  v.  20. 


96  SIXTH   WORD 

Right-  To  express  his  broader  and  profounder  concep- 

is  the  per-  ^^^"  ^^  ^^^  1^^^?  Jesus  preferred  to  use  the  phrase 

formance  «  God's  will."     The  will  of  God,  however  it  miffht 

of  Gods      ,  .  1  •         1       1 

yjill  be  ascertained,   was   his   absolute  rule    of  duty. 

How  conformable  his  will  was  to  the  will  of  God, 
we  learn  from  such  a  saying  as,  "  My  meat  is  to 
do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  and  to  accom- 
phsh  his  work.^'i  And  yet,  even  in  this  same 
Gospel  of  St.  John,  we  see  Jesus'  will  contrasted 
with  the  Father's  will :  "  For  I  am  come  down  from 
heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of 
him  that  sent  me.''  ^  When  Jesus  says,  "  I  have 
a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with,  and  how  am  I 
straitened  until  it  be  accomplished  !"  ^  we  see 
how  stern  a  conflict  he  had  with  his  own  will  in 
view  of  the  supreme  duty  of  death.  His  willing- 
ness to  die  is  expressed  as  a  conquest  of  his  own 
will,  when  he  prays,  "  Father,  if  thou  be  willing, 
remove  this  cup  from  me :  nevertheless  not  my 
will,  but  thine,  be  done."* 
The  Cross  The  Cross,  which  is  the  witness  of  Jesus'  sublime 
symbol  sense  of  duty,  is  the  highest  symbol  of  obedience 
of  duty  and  duty  foi' us.  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
says,  "  Though  he  was  a  son,  yet  learned  he 
obedience  through  the  things  which  he  suffered  ; 
and  having  been  made  perfect,  he  became  unto  all 
them  that  obey  him  the  author  of  eternal  salva- 

1  John  iv.  34.  2  John  vi.  38  ;  cf.  v.  30. 

3  Luke  xii.  50.  *  Luke  xxii.  42 ;  cf.  Heb.  v.  7-9. 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  DUTY    97 

tion.'"  ^  The  will  of  God,  which  Jesus  accepted  as 
his  rule,  he  enjoins  upon  his  disciples  as  the  only 
criterion  of  conduct,  and  as  the  condition  of 
entrance  into  the  kingdom.^  This  thought  is  so 
essential  that  he  incorporates  it  in  the  formula 
which  his  disciples  were  constantly  to  repeat,  the 
words  which  he  taught  them  for  a  pattern  of 
prayer  and  for  the  regulation  of  desire.  When 
we  pray,  "  Thy  will  be  done,  as  in  heaven,  so  on 
earth,"'"'  it  is  normally  the  expression  of  our  ardent 
desire  ;  for  to  our  faith  the  will  of  God  represents 
the  utmost  conceivable  blessedness  for  us  and  for 
all.  This  marks  the  height  of  our  attainment. 
But  progress  in  this  direction  is  conditioned  by 
the  fact  that  in  our  human  experience  the  will 
of  God  is  constantly  making  itself  felt  as  duty^ 
by  opposing  our  will  and  spurring  us  onward. 
Though  the  Cross  has  been  sealed  upon  our  fore- 
head in  baptism,  though  we  have  voluntarily 
embraced  it  in  our  mature  confession  of  Christ,  it 
is  ever  asserting  itself  anew  as  a  cross  — that  is,  as 
an  instrument  of  torture  and  death  —  when  we 
are  most  sure  that  it  is  our  sign  of  triumph.  It 
is  so  very  hard  to  be  a  Christian,  because  at  each 
step  in  the  path  of  duty  we  meet  a  new  test, 

"  And  where  we  looked  for  crowns  to  fall. 
We  find  the  tug  's  to  come,  —  that 's  all." 

1  Heb.  V.  8,  9.  2  Matt  vii.  21. 


98  SIXTH   WORD 

We  can  often  say,  "  Thy  will  be  done,"  as  a 
genuine  expression  of  our  desire  ;  but  in  the  ex- 
perience of  a  life  of  duty  there  must  come  black 
moments  when  our  utmost  is  to  say,  '^Neverthe- 
less not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done.""  That,  how- 
ever, is  victory.  The  path  of  perfection  is  paved 
by  the  conquest  of  desire. 

JESUS  REIGNS  FROM  THE  TREE  —  AND  HE 
JUSTIFIES  HIS  RULE  BY  HIS  OWN  ROYAL 
REGARD   FOR  DUTY. 


THE   SEVENTH   WORD 

FILIAL   TRUST 

And  when  Jesus  had  cried  with  a  loud  voices  he  said. 
Father,  into  thy  hands  i  commend  my  spirit  :  and  hav- 
ing said  this,  he  gave  up  the  ghost. 

Luke  xxiii.  46,  quoted  from  Ps.  xxxi.  3. 

TRUST   IN    GOD 

WE  are  struck  at  once  by  the  contrast 
between  the  fiHal  confidence  of  this 
word  and  the  despairing  note  of  the 
cry,  "  Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ? "  There 
needs  no  subtilty  of  exegesis  to  detect  here  the 
joy  of  trustful  repose  upon  the  goodness  of  God, 
the  Son's  confidence  in  the  Father's  care. 

It  is  remarkable,  in  both  these  cases,  that  the  Jesus' 

T.    .     1  1  •  1       •  If  familiar- 

unpremeditated  cry  which  is  wrung  irom  our  ^-  ^^^J^ 
Lord's  lips  is  expressed  in  the  language  of  the  ^^^  ^crip- 
Psalter.  This  shows  not  only  Jesus'  familiarity 
with  the  Scriptures,  which  he  accounted  as  his 
daily  bread ;  ^  it  proves,  further,  the  enduring 
worth  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  especially  the 
Psalter,  as  an  expression  of  the  religious  nature 

1  See  Matt.  iv.  4 ;  cf.  Deut.  viii.  3. 


100 


SEVENTH   WORD 


New 
meaning 
in  old 
loords 


Thefirst 

Christian 

death 


of  man,  —  his  God  ward  consciousness  at  its  highest. 
Yet  it  justifies,  too,  our  instinctive  tendency  to 
put  into  the  old  words  a  new  and  distinctively 
Christian  meaning. 

We  cannot  in  every  place  apply  the  parable 
of  the  old  bottles  which  are  unserviceable  for  the 
new  wine.  For  here  Jesus  fills  the  old  expression 
with  a  totally  new  significance,  undreamt  of  by 
the  Psalmist.  It  was  a  triumph  of  faith  in  the 
Psalmist  to  commend  his  spirit  to  God  in  the 
trust  that  he  would  save  him  from  death  ;  but 
Jesus,  in  the  very  moment  of  death,  triumphed 
in  the  assurance  that  God  could  save  him  through 
death.  Yet  the  old  words  sufficed  to  express 
this  new  hope. 

I  have  said  in  another  connection,  in  view  of 
Jesus'*  feeling  of  desertion,  that  his  death  was 
hardly  an  example  of  Christian  dying.  AVe  may 
say  now,  in  view  of  his  last  word  from  the  Cross, 
that  his  was  the  first  Christian  death.  This  cry 
of  Jesus  has  been  echoed  again  and  again  by  gen- 
erations of  disciples  who  have  lived  and  died  in 
him.  The  new  meaning  which  Jesus  attached  to 
these  words  was  expressed  more  plainly  by  the 
martyr  Stephen,  —  the  first  to  suffer  in  his  name, 
—  who  cried  out  to  him  who  had  gone  before  to 
show  the  way  and  to  prepare  a  place,  "  Lord  Jesus, 
receive  my  spirit.'' ^     The  belief  that  God  will 

1  Acts  vii.  59. 


FILIAL    TRUST  101 

receive  the  spirit  at  death,  that  to  be  away  frbm 
the  home  of  the  body  is  to  be  at  home  with  the 
Lord,^  has  become  so  much  a  commonplace  of 
Christian  thought  that  we  hardly  detect  the  new- 
ness of  this  hope  in  Jesus'  utterance,  and  scarcely 
can  credit  the  fact  that  the  Old  Testament  saints 
lacked  this  assurance  of  faith. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to   state  accurately  The  Old 
the  attitude  of  a  pious  Israelite  towards  the  ques-  l^^lh^^^ 
tion  of  life  after  death.     It  is  even  difficult  for  ^op^  of 
us  to  realize  that  such  a  hope  constituted  no  part  ^taU^~ 
of  his  faith  in  God.     It  is  certain  that  the  Old 
Testament  formulated  no  desirable  picture  of  life 
beyond  the  grave,  and  that  the  Old  Testament 
saints  cherished  no  lucid  hope  of  personal  immor- 
tality.   Their  personality  was  merged  in  the  family 
and  the  nation  ;  in  his  posterity  the  individual 
survived.     And  yet  —  the  hope  of  eternal  life  was 
logically  justified    by  their   faith    in    God,  as  a 
righteous  God  ;  and  this  logical  corollary  of  their 
faith  was  finally  apprehended. 

Belief  in  the  righteousness  of  God  is  the  back-  Faith  in 
bone  of  the  Bible  :  it  is  the  constant  factor  which  riffhteous- 
unifies  the  development  from  the  Old  Testament  ness 
to  the  New,  and  unites  both  as  an  organic  wliole. 
If  God  is  righteous  and  omnipotent,  righteous 
men  must  be  adequately  rewarded,  and  the  wicked 
condignly  punished.     The  Old  Testament  believer 
1  2  Cor.  V.  6-9. 


102  SEVENTH   WORD 

affirmed  that  this  righteous  equivalence  is  a  fact, 
taking  merely  the  earthly  life  into  account  as  the 
sphere  of  God^s  judgment.     Manifestly,  it  is  the 
rule  in  the  moral  government  of  the  world ;  but, 
manifestly,  there  are  many  exceptions,  —  and  the 
absolute    righteousness    of    God    can    endure   no 
exception.     The  pious  Israelite  of  the  calamitous 
days  of  the  later  kingdom  and  the  exile  was  con- 
stantly preoccupied  by  this   problem   of  reward. 
This  is  the  theme  of  the  Book  of  Job  ;  and  no- 
where is  the  inadequacy  of  the  dogmatic  solution 
more  mercilessly  revealed.     It  might  do  for  Job's 
friends  to  deny  the  difficulty  by  affirming  that  if 
Job  is  unfortunate,  he  must  be  wicked ;  but  for 
the  afflicted  man  who  is  conscious  of  his  own  in- 
tegrity there  is  no  such  escape.     Again  and  again 
there  rose  to  the  lips  of  persecuted  saints  a  cry 
which  was  almost  a  profession  of  faith  in  a  future 
life  in  which   God's  righteousness  would  be  fully 
vindicated.     So  Job  cried  : 

«  But  I  know  that  my  vindicator  liveth, 
And  that  he  shall  stand  up  at  the  last  upon  the 

earth ; 
And  after  my  skin  hath  been  thus  destroyed. 
Yet  from  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God  : 
Whom  I  shall  see  for  myself. 
And  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  another."  ^ 

1  Job  xix.  25-27. 


FILIAL    TRUST  103 

Though  this  may  not  mean  precisely  what  we 
have  been  accustomed  to  suppose,  it  has  a  right 
to  its  place  in  our  Burial  Office ;  for  it  is 
the  seed  of  the  later  hope  of  a  life  beyond  the 
grave. 

Such  a  hope  as  this  emerges  frequently,  as  an  Belief  in 
expression  of  personal  experience,  in  the  Psalter ;  Q^friqSu- 
and  in  the  days  of  public  calamity,  when  the  eousness 
nation  itself  was  regarded  as  the  persecuted  and 
afflicted  servant  of  Jehovah,  this  problem  of  re- 
ward pressed  upon  the  prophets  with  still  greater 
severity.  What,  it  was  asked  finally,  —  what 
if  righteousness  demand  the  sacrifice  of  life  it- 
self ?  Where  then  can  be  the  rew^ard  —  this 
side  the  grave  ?  Isaiah  answers  :  "  Therefore  will 
I  divide  him  a  portion  with  the  great,  and  he 
shall  divide  the  spoil  with  the  proud  ;  because  he 
poured  out  his  soul  unto  death."'"' ^  The  word 
"  thei'efore "'"'  (and  "  because "''')  has  all  the  force 
of  man's  faith  in  God's  righteousness.  What- 
ever may  be  the  meaning  of  these  words  as 
Isaiah  uttered  them,  they  have  justly  been  ap- 
plied to  Christ ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  in  the  logic  of  this  illative  particle  he  found 
strong  comfort  as  he  poured  out  his  soul  unto 
death.  Jesus''  faith  in  the  righteousness  of  God 
implied  reward  for  duty  done,  either  here  —  or 
hereafter. 

1  Isa.  liii.  12. 


104  SEVENTH    WORD 

THE   FATHER 

Trust  in         But  it  was  not  upon  God's  righteousness  alone 
Father       that  Jesus  reHed :  his  confidence  was  founded  far 
more  upon  his  intimate,  personal  relation  to  God 
as  Father. 

This  word,  "  Father,"  is  not  found  in  the  Psalm 
from  which  Jesus  borrowed  the  words  of  his  last 
cry  from  the  Cross.     It  is  a  significant  addition, 
for  it  transforms  the  expression  into  one  oi  Jilial 
confidence. 
Old  and         Here  again  we  find  in  Jesus'  teaching  a  feature 
li^ion  of   which  was  old  and  yet  new.     God  is  sometimes 
the  divine  spoken  of  in  the  Old  Testament  as  the  Father  of 
hood  the  nation  collectively ;  and  later  Jewish  usage, 

particularly  in  the  time  of  our  Lord,  employed 
this  title  not  infrequently  with  a  more  individual 
reference.  The  m-owth  of  this  usas^e  in  favor  of 
the  title  "heavenly  Father"  is  accounted  for,  first 
of  all,  by  the  disposition  to  avoid  the  utterance 
of  the  express  names  of  God.  This  in  turn  was 
a  consequence  of  an  increasing  emphasis  in  later 
Judaism  upon  the  awful  transcendence  of  the 
Deity.  In  dread  reverence  for  God,  his  name 
was  replaced  in  common  use  by  a  periphrasis  :  he 
was  described  as  "  the  Highest,"  ^  "  the  Blessed," 
"  the  Power,"  ^  or  as  "  the  Father  in  heaven."" 
Jesus   himself    observed    this   scruple  —  perhaps 

1  Mark  v.  T.  2  Mark  xiv.  61,  62. 


FILIAL    TRUST  105 

more  consistently  than  our  Greek  Gospels  seem 
to  indicate.  But  the  fact  that  before  all  other 
names  of  God  he  preferred  this  last  designation, 
and  employed  it  with  a  frequency  unparalleled  in 
Jewish  literature,  is  significant  of  the  new  concep- 
tion of  God  which  he  possessed  and  endeavored 
to  impart  to  his  disciples.  An  exclusive  emphasis 
upon  the  transcendence  of  God  was  matched  and 
balanced  by  a  name  which  drew  him  as  Father 
close  to  his  children.  Jesus  appropriated  this 
name,  and  filled  it  with  a  richer  content.  Old  as 
this  name  was,  Jesus  made  it  the  symbol  of  all 
that  was  most  original  in  his  contribution  to  the 
religious  consciousness  of  mankind  :  it  is  the  sum- 
mary of  all  that  he  had  to  teach  about  God. 

Jesus'  doctrine  of  the  divine  fatherhood  was  not  Jesm'' 

V        J  r^    J-)         L'    'i.     •  4.*  doctrine 

based  upon  God  s  activity  m  creation  or  upon  any  ^j^^  rekec- 

aboriginal  relation  between  God  and  man.     This  Hon  of  his 

was  substantially  the  pagan  notion,  to  which  St. 

Paul  did  not  hesitate  to  appeal  in  preaching  to 

the  Athenians :  " '  For  we  are  also  his  offspring,' 

as  certain  even  of  your  own  poets  have  said.""  ^    It 

is  true  that  Jesus  interpreted  the  fatherhood  of 

God  in  the  most  universal  sense,  affirming  that 

his  loving  care  was  shown  towards  all  his  creatures, 

his  fatherly  love  towards  all  men,  bad  men  as  well 

as   good :    '*  for   your  Father  in   heaven   maketh 

his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and 

1  Acts  xvii.  28. 


106  SEVENTH    WORD 

sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  the  unjust.""^  But 
at  this  universal  conception  of  God's  fatherly 
goodness  Jesus  had  arrived  through  the  most 
intimate  and  personal  experience  of  God  as  his 
Father. 
'•  My  It  appears  that   the    Gospel   of  St.   Matthew 

and "^our  ^^^^st  correctly  reflects  the  usage  of  Jesus,  repre- 
Fathe'r"  sen  ting  that,  except  in  direct  address  to  God,  he 
never  used  the  term  "Father  "  without  the  adjunct 
"in  heaven,''  and  that  in  prayer  he  addressed 
God  as  "w?/  Father."^  It  is  clear  from  all  the 
Gospels  that  he  never  so  associated  himself  with 
his  disciples  as  to  speak  of  God  as  our  Father. 
This  phrase  occurs  in  the  prayer  which  he  taught 
his  disciples  to  make,  but  which  he  did  not  make 
in  common  with  them.  Substantially,  St.  John 
interprets  aright  the  significance  of  Jesus'  use  of 
the  possessive  pronoun,  when  he  represents  that 
throughout  his  ministry  Jesus  spoke  of  God  as 
"w?/  Father,"  and  that  only  at  the  end,  when  he 
had  magnified  to  the  utmost  the  reality  and  in- 
timacy of  this  relationship,  did  he  make  it  over 
to  his  disciples  as  their  own  possession,  saying, 
"  I  ascend  unto  vii/  Father  and  ijour  Father,  and 
mi/  God  and  7/our  God."^ 

1  Matt.  V.  45. 

2  For  the  proof  of  this,  which  is  too  intricate  to  give  here, 
see  Dalman,  Die  Worte  Jesu^  pp.  155  sqq. 

2  John  XX.  17. 


FILIAL    TRUST  107 

That  cry  of  Jesus  from  the  Cross,  "  My  God,  "  Abba 
my  God,''  was  not  more  intimate  in  its  personal 
appropriation  of  God  than  the  address  "  My 
Father,"  or  simply  "Father.""  There  was  some- 
thing so  impressive  in  Jesus'  use  of  this  name  that 
the  word  has  been  preserved,  even  by  the  Greek- 
speaking  Church,  in  the  language  in  which  Jesus 
uttered  it, — as  in  the  case  of  the  cry,  "Eli,  Eli" 
and  the  "Amen"  (unfortunately  in  our  English 
version  translated  by  "  verily  "  )  which  Jesus  used, 
in  a  fashion  peculiar  to  himself,  as  an  introduction 
to  his  solemn  assertions.  In  the  form  "  abha  "  the 
definite  article  is  joined  to  the  Aramaic  word  for 
"  father  " :  it  means  strictly  "  the  father,"  but  was 
commonly  used  also  in  a  possessive  sense,  as  equiva- 
lent to  "  my  (or  our)  father."  This  word  may  owe 
its  survival  in  Christian  use  to  the  fact  that  it 
was  the  first  word  of  the  prayer  which  our  Lord 
taught  his  disciples  —  "  Our  Father  " ;  ^  and  St. 
Paul  may  have  had  this  prayer  in  mind  in  the 
two  passages  where  he  cites  this  name  as  a  symbol 
of  the  spirit  of  adoption :  "  Because  ye  are  sons, 
God  sent  forth  the  spirit  of  his  Son  into  our 
hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father."  ^  But  it  is  also 
recorded  as  the  first  word  of  our  Lord's  own 
prayer  in  the  garden,  when  he  bowed   his  will 

1  It  could  be  rendered  either  by  "  Father,"  as  we  have  it 
in  Luke  xi.  2,  or  "  Our  Father,"  as  in  Matt.  vi.  9. 

2  Gal.  iv.  6  ;  cf.  Rom.  viii.  15. 


108  SEVENTH   WORD 

to  the  will  of  his  Father ;  ^  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  what  made  this  word  so  memorable 
was  Jesus'  own  utterance  of  it.     This  word  which 
he  uttered  finally  upon   the  Cross   is   the  surest 
token  of  his  filial  confidence  in  the  moment  of 
death. 
Parables        Jesus  employed    several   parables  to  illustrate 
hood    ^^    the  fatherhood  of  God.     Fundamental  to   them 
all   is   the  notion,  not  that    God   is  to  be  con- 
ceived after  the  image  of  man,  but  that  human 
perfections  are  a  faint  reflection  of  the  divine.^ 
Or,  as  St.  Paul  says,  substantially:    The  divine 
fatherhood    is    the    aboriginal    fatherhood    after 
which  every  fatherhood  on  earth  is  patterned.^ 
We  know        Parables  might  faintly  illustrate  what  God  is 
Father  of  ^^  Father ;  but  Jesus'  own  relation  to  God  was 
the  Son      the  conclusive  testimony  and  proof  of  the  divine 
fatherhood.     Jesus  was  conscious  of  a  unique  and 
incomparable  relation  to  God.     How  he  attained 
that  consciousness,  the  Gospels  give  us  no  hint. 
Rather  we  must  say  that  they  represent  him  as 
one  who,  like  a  child,  growing  up  with  a  serene 
consciousness  of  a  father's    presence   and   loving 
care,  cannot  point  to  a  time  when  he  first  knew 
his  parent.     All  that  was  unique  in  his  conscious- 
ness of  essential  sonship  Jesus  jealously  guarded 
as  his  own  ;  but  his  consciousness  of  the  universal 
fatherhood  of  God  he  communicated  to  his  dis- 
1  Mark  xiv.  36.         2  Matt.  vii.  11.  »  Eph.  iii.  15. 


FILIAL    TRUST  109 

ciples.  He  said,  "  My  Father  *" ;  he  said  also, 
"Your  Father"''':  but  he  never  put  himself  upon 
the  same  plane  with  his  disciples  by  the  use  of 
such  a  phrase  as  "  our  Father.'"'  The  Church  has 
always  recognized  that  the  knowledge  of  God  as 
Father,  and  access  to  this  Father-God,  has  been 
attained  through  Jesus  Christ.  Hence  the  dis- 
tinctive Christian  name  for  God  is  not  "our 
Father,"  simply ;  but  "  the  God  and  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."^ 

SONSHIP 

Jesus  appeared  among  men  as  the  Son  of  God  Jesus'  con- 
in  a  unique  sense.  It  is  true  that  he  never  ex-  ofsomhip 
pressly  applied  to  himself  this  name,  —  as  he  never 
expressly  called  himself  the  Christ.  His  self-chosen 
appellation  was  "  the  Son  of  man.""  But  for  all 
that,  his  claim  is  none  the  less  clear  and  certain. 
His  consciousness  of  exclusive  and  privileged  son- 
ship  is  expressed,  as  we  have  already  had  occasion 
to  note,  by  the  way  in  which  he  speaks  of  God  as 
"  my  father.""  Other  traits  in  the  Gospels  which 
cannot  be  so  briefly  adduced  concur  in  proving 
that  this  was  the  fundamental  factor  in  his  Mes- 
sianic consciousness. 

Jesus  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God  in  an  ex-  Jesus  the 
elusive  sense.     He  did  not  seek  to  impart  to  his  ^/^SAijo 
disciples  all  that  he  was  conscious  of  being  and 

1  Rom.  XV.  6 ;  2  Cor.  i.  3 ;  1  Pet.  i.  3  ;  cf.  Rev.  i.  6. 


110  SEVENTH    WORD 

possessing  as  the  Son  of  God.  Yet  he  taught 
them  to  look  to  God  as  their  Father,  and  to 
behave  themselves  in  a  way  befitting  God's  sons. 
Hence  his  own  relation  to  God,  unique  as  it  is, 
illustrates  the  religious  and  moral  relation  of 
every  son  to  his  heavenly  Father.  What  it  is 
to  be  a  son,  in  the  perfection  of  likeness  and  love, 
Jesus  would  have  his  disciples  learn  in  his  person ; 
and  the  disciples,  having  come  to  know  sonship  in 
its  highest  instance,  were  not  disposed  to  dwell 
upon  the  lowest  relations  to  which  this  concep- 
tion might  be  applied. 
Sonship  a  It  seems  perfectly  logical  to  say  that  because 
p7^iieffe  ^^^  ^^  to  be  regarded  as  the  Father  of  all  men, 
therefore  all  men  indiscriminately  are  his  sons ;  — 
but  it  would  be  a  perfectly  perverse  use  of  logic. 
For  it  is  a  fact  that  in  the  New  Testament  the 
notion  of  sonship  expresses  the  exalted  privilege 
of  membership  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Love 
is  substantially  what  is  expressed  by  the  name 
"father'';  and  because  God's  love  is  universal,  he 
may  be  called  the  Father  of  all  men.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  name  "son"  is  meant  to  express 
something  more  than  the  mere  fact  that  one  has 
a  father.  In  the  notion  of  sonship  there  is  im- 
plied (far  more  stringently  to  the  Hebrew  than 
to  us)  likeness  and  obedience,  as  well  as  privilege. 
Moral  likeness  to  God  and  obedience  to  him  are 
proofs  of  sonship  and  conditions  of  its  privilege. 


FILIAL   TRUST  111 

It  is  manifest  that  all  do  not  fulfil  these  condi- 
tions and  attain  this  status. 

It  is  true  that  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son, 
if  its  allegorical  interpretation  is  to  be  pressed  in 
detail,  implies  that  a  sinner  remains  a  son  even  in 
his  estrangement  from  God.     We  must  remember, 
however,  that  we  are  here  dealing  with  figurative 
language,  and  must  endeavor  to  avoid  the  logom- 
achy into  which  men  commonly  fall  in  debating 
this  subject.     There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
express  point  of  this  parable  is  the  proof  of  God's 
fatherly  love  towards  even  the  sinner  in  his  es- 
trangement.    But  if  there  is  any  significance  at 
all  in  the  usage  of  words,  it  is  important  here  to 
observe  that  Jesus  does  not  use  the  term  "  son  of 
God"  to  describe  the  common  status  of  men,  but 
to  indicate  the  acme  of  religious  attainment  and 
privilege.     It  is  certain  that  he  did  not  regard 
the  sum  of  all  the  benefits  he  brought  to  men  as 
a  mere  restitution  of  an  original  status  which  had 
been  lost  through  sin.     He  brought  men  into  a 
new  relation  to  God,  and  for  this  relation  sonship 
is  a  summary  expression.     When  St.  John  regards 
divine  sonship  as  conditioned  by  a  new  birth,  he 
rightly  interprets  the  newness  of  the  i-elationship 
and  its  peculiar  privilege,  as  St.  Paul  does  also  by 
the  notion  of  "  adoption."     The  fact  is  that  the 
name  "son  of  God"  expresses  a  degree  of  perfection 
which  is  unattainable  even  to  Christ's  disciples 


112  SEVENTH    WORD 

under  earthly  conditions,  and  can  be  realized,  like 
the  perfected  kingdom,  only  in  the  coming  age. 
A  heavenly  perfection  is  expected  of  God's  sons 
which  they  can  in  part  realize  in  this  world  ;  ^  but 
only  in  the  resurrection  does  their  state  completely 
match  their  name.  Divine  sonship  appears  as  the 
supreme  and  final  attainment  of  man,  in  the  strik- 
ing passage  where  Jesus  says  of  those  that  "  are 
accounted  worthy  to  attain  to  that  world  and  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead,''  that  "  they  are  equal 
unto  the  angels,  and  are  sons  of  God,  being  sons 
of  the  resurrection .'"  ^ 
Parables  The  relation  between  father  and  son  which  is 
exhibited  in  the  human  family  afforded  Jesus  a 
many-sided  parable,  which  he  applied  in  various 
ways.  He  used  it  to  illustrate  the  universal  love 
of  God  in  the  reception  of  repentant  sinners,^  or 
his  particular  care  for  those  who  call  upon  him  in 
filial  confidence  ;  ^  or,  again,  to  define  the  behavior 
of  genuine  sons.^  But  he  employed  it  also  to  ex- 
plain the  peculiar  relation  which  subsists  between 
the  heavenly  Father  and  himself  as  the  only  Son. 
It  is  as  a  parable  we  must  understand  Jesus'  words 
in  Matt.  xi.  27,  where  he  says,  "All  things  have 
been  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father :  and  no 

1  Matt.  V.  45-48  2  Luke  xx.  36. 

8  Luke  XV.  11-32. 

*  Matt.  vii.  9-11  ;  Luke  xi.  11-13. 

6  Matt.  xxi.  28-31. 


FILIAL    TRUST  113 

one  knoweth  the  son,  save  the  father ;  neither 
doth  any  know  the  father,  save  the  son,  and  he 
to  whomsoever  the  son  willeth  to  reveal  him." 
The  exclusive  intimacy  which  exists  between  a 
father  and  a  son,  and  between  a  son  and  a  father, 
explains  the  unique  position  of  Jesus  as  the  only 
possible  mediator  of  a  true  knowledge  of  God.^ 
Both  in  form  and  content  this  passage  is  closely 
akin  to  many  of  the  characteristic  utterances  re- 
corded in  the  Fourth  Gospel.  But  there  "the 
Father "  is  no  longer  a  parabolic  expression ;  it 
has  become  a  fixed  title  for  God,  as  he  is  known, 
first  of  all,  in  his  relation  to  "  the  only  begotten 
Son,"  and  then  through  him,  the  Revealer,  is 
apprehended  as  Father  by  all  who  are  born  from 
above. 

How  Jesus  understood  the  peculiar  privilege 
of  sonship  which  he  claimed  for  himself,  one  may 
learn  more  clearly  from  the  parable  of  the  wicked 
husbandmen.2  The  notion  of  sonship  here  emerges 
in  a  new  and  distinctive  form,  when  the  lord  of 
the  vineyard  sends  his  "  son,"  who  is  sharply  dis- 
tinguished from  the  "  servants,"  and  recognized 
as  "  the  heir,"  to  whom  reverence  and  rule  are  due 
by  natural  right.  While  the  narrative  in  St. 
Matthew's  Gospel  has  simply  the  expression  "  my 
son,"  St.  Luke  says,  "  my  beloved  son,"  and  St. 

1  Dalman,  Die  Worte  Jesu,  pp.  231  sq. 

2  Matt.  xxi.  33-45 ;  Mark  xii.  1-12  ;  Luke  xx.  9-19. 

8 


.      114  SEVENTH    WORD 

Mark  has  the  more  pointed  and  probable  phrase, 
"  he  had  one  left,  a  beloved  son."  This  phrase 
precisely  matches  in  meaning  '*  the  only  begotten 
Son,''"'  which  was  a  favorite  term  with  St.  John.^ 
Both  expressions  denote  the  rightful  authority  of 
the  only  Son  to  rule  in  God's  kingdom.  This 
reflects  the  prophecy  of  Psalm  ii.  6-9,  —  the  text 
which  first  gave  currency  to  the  name  "  Son  of 
God"''  as  a  Messianic  title.  But  in  Jesus'*  use  of  it 
the  name  "  Son"  has  become  more  than  a  mere  figure 
of  speech  ;  it  denotes  a  substantial  and  natural 
relationship.  As  the  Son  of  God,  Jesus  felt  him- 
self called  to  a  universal  dominion ;  not  such 
dominion,  however,  as  a  fortunate  Jewish  general 
might  acquire,  but  such  as  God  himself  exercises. 
Jesus"  con-  Such  is  the  lofty  consciousness  which  is  implied 
ofsonskip  hi  Jesus"'  last  word  from  the  Cross.     He  never  was 

iwon  the    ^^  clear  in  his  claim  of  roval  authority  as  when 

Cross  ^  -^  *' 

he  approached  his  death.  He  faced  death's  last 
moment  calling  upon  God  as  Father,  and  commit- 
ting confidently  to  his  keeping,  not  only  his  per- 
sonal existence,  but  his  royal  rights  as  Son. 

JESUS  REIGNS  FROM  THE  TREE  —  AND  THOUGH 
HIS  RULE  BE  IGNORED  OR  REJECTED,  HE 
REIGNS  NEVERTHELESS  BY  RIGHT  DIVINE 
AS  SON. 

1  Dalman,  Die  Worte  Jesu,  p.  230. 


INDEX   OF   NEW   TESTAMENT 
PASSAGES 


Matthew 

Page 

Matthew 

Page 

iii.  15 

95 

xvii. 

17 

49 

iv.  1-11 

89 

xviii. 

6-14 

28 

4 

99 

14 

27 

10 

34 

XX. 

28 

78 

19 

24 

xxi 

28-31 

112 

V.  17-20 

95 

33-45 

113 

44,  45 

18 

xxii. 

32 

53 

45 

106 

37-39 

37 

44-48 

44,  112 

xxiii. 

12 

80 

vi.  9 

107 

XX  vi. 

28 

63 

23 

92 

39 

71 

24 

34 

48 

67 

vii.  9-11 

112 

52-56 

73 

11 

108 

63 

13 

20 

41 

Mark 

21 

97 

i. 

17 

24 

21,  22 

41 

22 

33 

X.  28 

90 

35-38 

25 

32  sqq. 

34 

ii. 

4,5 

22 

36,37 

41 

12 

33 

xi.  6 

31 

iii. 

33-35 

41 

29 

77 

iv. 

41 

33 

xii.  12 

27 

V. 

7 

104 

32 

16 

15,  17,  33 

33 

48-50 

41 

vi. 

50 

33 

xiv.  26  sq. 

33 

vii. 

37 

33 

xvi.  6 

33 

viii. 

35 

80 

24 

77 

35  sqq. 

34 

25 

80 

ix. 

19 

49 

28 

14 

X. 

26,  32 

33 

116 

INDEX 

Mark 

Page 

Luke 

Page 

X.  45 

78 

xiv.  33 

77 

xi.  18 

33 

XV. 

28 

32 

33 

11-32 

112 

xii.  1-12 

113 

xvii.  10 

95 

26, 

27 

53 

21 

22 

30, 

31 

37 

XX.  9-19 

113 

xiv.  22, 

24 

63 

18 

31 

21, 

27,  29 

73 

34-36 

44 

36 

71,  108 

36 

112 

61 

13 

37,38 

53 

61, 

62 

104 

xxii.  20 

63 

XV.  32 

20 

27 

78 

36 

67 

42 

67-69 

71,  96 
13 

Luke 

xxiii.  34 

9 

ii.  9  sqq. 

33 

36 

67 

34, 

35 

31 

39-43 

20 

49 

40 

46 

99 

iv.  1-13 

89 

xxiv.  21 

2 

18, 

19 

70 

V.  8 

33 

John 

10 

24 

i.  29 

68 

vi.  36 

19 

iii.  17 

30 

vii.  16 

33 

iv.  31-34 

26 

18- 

23 

71 

34 

96 

50 

23 

35 

25 

ix.  24 

80 

vi.  30,  38 

96 

41 

49 

vii.  37-39 

68 

58- 

60 

41 

viii.  46 

88 

xi.  2 

107 

ix.  39 

30 

11- 

13 

112 

X.  1-16 

24 

29- 

32 

17 

xii.  33 

13 

35 

92 

xiii.  31 

8 

xii.  4,  I. 

»,  T 

90 

34 

37 

10 

16 

xiv.  28 

48 

15 

77 

XV.  4,  5 

21 

50 

96 

13 

38 

xiii.  33 

77 

xvii.  23 

21 

xiv.  11 

80 

37 

11 

INDEX 

117 

John 

Page 

Philippians 

Page 

xviii.  37 

25 

ii.  4,  5 

79 

xix.  23,  24 

67 

7 

78 

28 

QQ 

30 

49,83 

COLOSSIANS 

34-37 

67 

i.  24 
29 

85 

XX.  16,  17 

3 

76 

17 

106 

ii.  15 

12 

25 

2 

2  Timothy 

Acts 

ii.  24 

76 

vi.  60 

19 

iv.  6-8 

85 

vii.  59 

100 

xvii.  28 

105 

Hebrews 

iv.  15 

89 

Romans 

V.  7,  9 

96 

i.  18,  24,  25 

32 

8,9 

97 

V.  10 

61 

xii.  2 

50 

viii.  15 

44,  107 

xiii.  20 

24 

32 

60 

34 

1 

1  Peter 

xi.  12,  15,  24 

17 

i.  3 

109 

XV.  6 

109 

ii.  4-8 

31 

21-23 

18 

2  Corinthians 

25 

24 

i.  3 

109 

iii.  17,  18 

21 

1  John 

18 

2 

ii.  2 

61,  63 

iv.  10 

81 

6 

82 

V.  6-8 

21 

7,8 

37 

6-9 

101 

iv.  10 

61 

18-20 

61 

V.  6-9 

67 

X.   1 

80 

16 

16 

Galatians 

iv.  6 

107 

2  John 

5 

37 

Ephesians 

iii.  15 

44,  108 

Revelation 

iv.  10 

4 

i.  6 

109 

The  Church  and  its  Organization 

An  Interpretation  of  Rudolph  Sohm's  Kirchenrecht 

THE  PRIMITIVE  AGE 

By  the  Rev.   WALTER  LOWRIE,   M.A.  (Princeton) 

Sometime  Fellow  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  ;  Assistant  Minister 

at  Emmanuel  Church,  Boston  ;  Author  of  "  The  Doctrine  of 

St.  John,"  "Gaudium  Crucis,"  etc. 

8vo,  pp.  xxviMOZ.    Price  $3.50  net.    By  mail,  $3.70 

Contents:  I.  Introduction. —i.  Denominational  Con- 
troversy about  the  Ministry  a  Question  of  Form. — 2.  Legalised 
Christianity. — 3.  No  Catholic  Controversy  about  the  Form  of 
the  Ministry. — 4.  Reformation  Principles. — 5.  Denominational 
Controversy. — 6.  Modern  Study.  —  IL  The  Idea  of  the 
Church.— 7.  Significance  of  the  Name  Ecclesia. — 8.  Jesus' 
Use  of  the  Word  Church.— 9.  The  Apostolic  Notion  of  the 
Church. — 10.  The  Idea  of  Church  Organisation. — 11.  Signifi- 
cance of  Order  and  Custom  in  the  Church. — III.  The  Assem- 
bly FOR  Instruction, — 12.  Of  Church  Assemblies  in  Gen- 
eral.— 13.  Conduct  of  the  Assembly.  — 14,  Prayer  and  Praise. — 
15.  The  Gift  of  Teaching. — 16.  The  Teaching  Office. — 17.  The 
Teachers  and  the  Assembly.— 18.  Election  and  Ordination. — 
IV.  The  Eucharistic  Assembly.  — 19.  The  Eucharist,  its 
Significance  for  Church  Order  and  Organisation. — -20.  Church 
Property. — 21.  Bishops.— 22.  Deacons. — 23.  Presbyters. 

"...  it  is  without  question  one  of  the  best  studies  in  Chris- 
tian origins  yet  made  by  any  American  writer." — The  Living 
Church. 

"...  It  is  a  work  that  demands  respectful  attention,  it  is  the 
result  of  much  study,  it  is  written  in  a  calm  and  quiet  spirit,  and 
while  we  differ  from  the  conclusions  the  author  has  arrived  at, 
in  some  cases,  yet  we  admit  that  whatever  he  says  is  not  said 
rashly  or  unadvisedly.   .  .   ." — Church  Eclectic. 

"  ...  a  good  piece  of  investigative  work  born  of  scholarship 
and  a  zeal  for  truth.  .  .  .  Mr.  Lowrie's  volume  is  decidedly  a 
work  of  love  as  well  as  a  propaganda  of  new  ideas.  ...  In 
carrying  out  his  task  Mr.  Lowrie  has  shown  excellent  judg- 
ment; his  equipment  for  it  is  of  the  very  best,  and  his  work  is 
generally  of  the  type  which  in  time  makes  information  from 
such  a  source  both  sought  after  and  trusted." — The  Dial. 

"...  This  present  volume  discusses  very  luminously  the 
idea  of  the  Church,  the  assembly  for  instruction,  and  the  euchar- 
istic assembly,  with  such  related  topics  as  bishops,  deacons, 
presbyters,  church  property,  the  gift  of  teaching,  and  the 
significance  of  the  eucharist.  ...  It  will  repay  careful  perusal 
by  those  interested  in  its  topics.  The  style  is  very  clear,  and 
the  pages  are  full  of  information  attractively  presented.  It  is  a 
book  that  will  have  to  be  reckoned  with  by  all  writers  on  this 
theme." — Methodist  Quarterly  Review. 

LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO.,  Publishers,  New   Vork 


The  Doctrine   of  Saint  John 

An  Essay  in  Biblical  Theology 

By  WALTER  LOWRIE,   M.A. 

Author  of  "  The  Church  and  its  Organization  :    The  Primitive  Age  " 
"Gaudium  Crucis,"  etc.  ' 

Crown  8vo,  pp.  xx-216.    $1.50 

"Mr.  Lowrie's  interpretation  of  St.  John's  writings  is  vigor- 
ous, balanced,  and  '^\v\o^o^\i.\z"— Churchman. 

"A  fairly  complete  and  very  thoughtful  exposition  of  St 
John  s   teaching.  .  .  .  The   author  of   this   well-written   work 
aims  to  interpret  St.  John's  theology  as  a  whole,  and  to  reduce 
It  to  a  system.     It  is  also  his  desire  to  bring  the  Apostle's  doc- 
trine within  easy  reach  of  the  ordinary  understanding,  and  thus 
make  his  essay  a  manual  for  the  lay  student  of  St.  John's  writ- 
mgs.     In   both  of  these  purposes  he   has   been  commendably 
successful.     His  exegesis  is  clear;  his  presentation  of  the  lead- 
mg  ideas  of  St.  John  is  clothed  in  direct  and  simple  language 
...  We  heartily  commend  this   book  to  the   student  of  the 
doctrine  of  St.  John.     It  is  thoroughly  catholic  in  its  viewpoint 
and  IS  abreast  with  the  best  thought  of  the  age  concerning  the 
Apostle  and  his  teaching.  ..."  —The  Church  Standard. 

"...  a:  remarkably  compact  and  precise  statement.  Brief 
as  It  is,  It  attempts  to  interpret  the  theology  of  St.  John  as  a 
whole,  and  to  give  an  exposition  of  it  which  will  not  only  em- 
brace all  the  great  ideas  but  present  them  as  a  system  And  it 
succeeds  to  a  large  extent.  .  .  .  The  book  altogether  is  a  care- 
ful study  and  makes  a  very  useful  guide  to  the  subject."— Cr///- 
cal  Review. 

_  "  We  have  read  this  volume  with  the  greatest  satisfaction.  It 
is  by  no  means  large,  but  it  is  full  of  matter  clearly  and  com- 
pactly put  together.  It  is  the  fruit  of  careful  study,  extensive 
reading,  and  independent  reliection.  1 1  is  based  upon  exact  exe- 
gesis, and  shows  real  insight  into  the  compass  and  significance 
of  the  form  of  doctrine  which  it  expounds.  It  has  also  the  at- 
traction of  comparative  novelty.  For  its  object  is  to  interpret 
the  Johannine  theology  as  a  whole  in  the  way  in  which  the 
Pauline  theology  has  been  exhibited  in  its  entire  system. 
But  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  book  is  one  of  real  merit,  and 
one  to  be  commended  heartily  to  students  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. " — Pi'esbyterian  and  Reformed  Review. 

"The  author  writes  seriously  and  with  knowledge  ...  we 
recommend  the  study  of  this  book  as  a  useful  discipline  to' any 
young  clergyman  who  imagines  that  he  has  mastered  the  Fourth 
Gospel.  It  will  reveal  to  him  how  much  he  has  to  learn."— 7%^ 
Guardian. 

LONGMANS,   GREEN,   &  CO.,   Publishers,  New   Vork 


Date  Due 


